Royal Love Story
by Masquerade Ageha
Summary: A curse has been placed on Sofia and nothing might be able to cure it. But James is not one to give up and will do anything to save the girl he loves. New enemies but also new friends are coming. Will they be able to save Sofia in time? Or will evil finally triumph?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been ten years since Sofia moved into the castle and became a princess. She's now 18 years old. Her shoulder-length wavy auburn hair grew down to her waist. She often tie her hair in a braid or ponytail whenever she would have flying derby practices, but she also just lets it down. Her fair skin and rosy cheeks remained. She grew taller, almost the same height as her mother though still a few inches shorter. She had developed all her body parts splendidly, she even developed an hourglass figure. She even became more popular at the academy, especially with the princes though she never noticed it. Her innocence and kind heart never changed and that's what made people love her even more.

Prince James also grew up to be a great man. He's 19 years old. He got his hair trimmed neatly, though still wanting to look like same hairstyle he used to have. He grew up so tall that he was taller than his mother but a bit shorter than his father. His body was well-built. He was the most popular boy at the academy. He became more muscular. He still possessed the easy-going, playful, and sometimes mischievous personality he had since he was a kid. But he also gained a keen sense of responsibility. He learned to be wiser and proper. And he never lost his kindness for his friends and family.

They were all preparing for their return to Royal Senior High Academy. They were all in their senior years. They have graduated from the Royal Preparatory Academy. Sofia, James, and Amber were at the top of the class. Sofia even though she's the youngest joined to the class of James and Amber so she can be with them. Sofia was also the smartest girl in the class and everyone admired her. And James was also the smartest boy in the class and he also became the captain of the Academy's flying derby team.

Sofia woke up and stretched her arms up.

"Good morning, princess. Sleep well?" asked Clover

"Yup." Sofia smiled at her best friend

"Well you better get dressed. Today's the day you will return to the academy after all. You wouldn't want to be late now."

"I know, Clover. Ah, I'm so excited. Today's the day the seniors will greet the new students at the Royal Prep after all. And we will give them a tour and become like a role model to them." She giggled and started to find a great dress.

Suddenly, she heard someone knocking at the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Amber."

"Oh come in Amber."

"Sofia, are you ready yet? Mommy and Daddy are probably waiting for us at the dining room already."

Amber also became more beautiful. Her hair grew longer, it passed her waist. Her hair became more golden and radiant. Some say she's as beautiful as Princess Aurora. She developed her parts like a true lady. She's still a spoiled and bossy girl but at times she became more mature, and kind to the people around her. She acted as a true older sibling to both Sofia and James as she often takes care of them and worries for them though she doesn't show it often. She still loves to throw parties and have beautiful tiaras and dresses. She even became a sort of a fashion consultant that most of the princesses would just do anything to ask for her help, especially when there's a ball.

"No, I'm not yet ready. I'm still choosing a dress to wear. It's a special occasion after all."

"Oh Sofia, you don't know how happy I am to finally see you actually considering what you wear for once instead of just wearing the same thing over and over again… so what do you have?"

"Well how about this one?" Sofia showed Amber a simple purple dress with white pearls around the waist and a few on the bottom.

"Err… well… it's nice but frankly speaking, it's too plain. This is a special occasion like you said so you need a special gown to wear… let me see now…" Amber started to rummage her closet. "No… not this one… no…" Amber started to throw one dress after the other.

Sofia couldn't do anything but sit on her bed and watch and wait for Amber. She knew she couldn't stop Amber from doing this anyway.

"Ah! Here we are!" Amber finally picked the dress for Sofia after 15 minutes of searching

"Wow, it's beautiful. I don't think I've seen this one before." Sofia admired the dress Amber gave her. It was a lilac colored gown with diamonds and pearls around the waist and neckline and a sparkling white ribbon at the back. The dress was shining with the glittery-like cloth around the skirt.

"Of course. I made a few changes in that dress just now to make it look better than ever." Amber smirked

"Thanks Amber. You're the best!" Sofia hugged her older sister

"Hey, Sof are you ready yet?" a certain prince asked as he entered the room

"James!" Sofia hugged James. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Seriously, James don't you ever knock." Amber glared at James and crossed her arms

"Oh hey Amber so this is where you were. Sorry about that but the door was opened—"

"That's still no excuse. What if Sofia was changing?"

James thought about it and started to blush a bit. "Sorry…"

Amber sighed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, Mom and Dad told me to come get the two of you."

"Okay tell them, we'll be down in a minute. I'll just prepare Sofia and we'll go down."

"Okay, then."

"See you there James." Sofia said

"Yeah!" James smiled and stared at Sofia for a while

"Ahem!" Amber glared at James again

"Oh right… I'll just go… now… uh…" James quickly got out of the room and started running to the dining room

"Geez… my stupid brother…"

"Oh you two…" Sofia giggled

"Nevermind about him, let's get you dressed."

"Okay…"

* * *

"That was close, I almost let them notice my feelings for Sofia… I seriously need to be more careful. Good thing Amber snapped me out back there." James thought to himself. He liked Sofia for a long time now, like ever since they first met but kept it a secret from everyone and tried hard to hide it though if anyone had noticed something it would be Amber but he's not entirely sure of it. James had a bit of crush on her when they were young but as the years passed that simple innocent crush became bigger until James finally fell in love with her.

"James! Where are the girls?" King Roland asked

"Oh, they're still preparing and Amber's getting Sofia dressed so it might a while." James took his seat

"Well, it's Amber after all…" Queen Miranda chuckled

"In the meantime, why don't we talk about you James… how are things going with your lessons?"

"They're fine. I'm still getting used to the responsibilities and duties a king has but I'll get used to it in no time."

James has started to learn how to be a king since in three years he will take over the crown. He's really excited but at the same time nervous because he really wants to be a great king like his father.

"That's good to hear. I know you'll make a great king. Right Miranda?"

"Of course Rollie, he's your son after all."

"Thanks, Mom and Dad."

"Your majesties, Princess Amber and Princess Sofia have arrived." Baileywick announced

"We're here!" Amber shouted

"Oh finally…" King Roland sighed with relief

"Geez Amber what took you—" James jaw dropped as he saw Sofia walk towards them

"Sorry we're late…" Sofia frowned

"No, it's alright, sweetie…" Queen Miranda smiled

"I see that it paid off after all. Amber you did a great job on Sofia." King Roland praised his eldest

"Thank you father, though it would've been even better if we weren't in such a rush." Amber sat down

"Here, Sofia…" James pulled a chair for her. "You look really beautiful."

"Thanks James." Sofia said as she sat down

"What about me?" Amber pouted

"Of course you look beautiful too as always sis." James chuckled nervously

"So let's eat already so you can go to the Royal Prep early…" Roland said

* * *

After they were done, they headed to their carriage which will take them to the Royal Preparatory Academy.

James reached out his hand to Sofia to help her get on the carriage.

"Thank you…" Sofia took James's hand and immediately sat down and James got on and sat down beside her

"Hmm…" Amber fluttered her fan and looked at James

They were flying for a few minutes and then they finally saw the Royal Prep.

"Hey, James, Amber look! We're here!" Sofia smiled widely

"Wow, it hasn't changed a bit…" James said

"Yes, brings back a lot of memories… oh look I can see Clio and Hildy down there…" Amber waved at her friends

"Oh look there they are!" Hildegard pointed at the flying carriage

"Hi Sofia!" Vivian waved enthusiastically at Sofia

When the carriage had landed, their friends came running towards them.

"Vivian!" Sofia hugged her friend

"It's great to see you again." Vivian said

"Hey Zandar, long time no see!" James patted his back

"Good to see you too."

"Ladies…" Amber bowed to Hildegard and Clio and they did the same

"Amber, it's been such a long time." Hildegard said

"Yeah…" Clio agreed and they formed a group hug

"Come on guys let's go, Miss Fauna, Miss Flora, and Miss Merryweather are probably waiting for us." Sofia said

They all nodded and head to the ballroom where they will meet the new students. While they were walking down the hall they saw a familiar face.

"Hey is that—" Zandar questioned

"Hugo!" Sofia called

Hugo turned around and saw Sofia and the other princesses and princes.

"It is Hugo!" they all exclaimed

"Oh! Hello Princess Sofia. It's good to see you again." Hugo grabbed Sofia's hand and kissed it

"Hey hands off my sister." James interrupted them. He was really angry. He was never in good terms with him and neither did Hugo.

They all had a hard time accepting Hugo as Sofia's friend especially James but they eventually did especially Amber, though they'd expect her to be the second to the last to accept Hugo, but she did because she saw how Hugo changed for the better ever since the championships at the Flying Crown race when they were younger. But James apparently still isn't though they talk to each other sometimes but when Hugo's around Sofia, that's when jealousy strikes James and their fight begins but of their fights were started by Hugo.

"Hey, calm down James. No need to be so overly protective all the time, it was just a greeting." Hugo held both his hands up in defense

James said nothing and gave him a threatening glare.

"James, please. Promise me that both of you will be on your best behavior today." Sofia pleaded

James just sighed. "Fine, Sof."

"Okay… for you Sofia." Hugo defeatedly said

"Good, let's go."

* * *

"Welcome students to Royal Preparatory Academy. And as to welcome you all, we personally picked some of our top students of Royal Senior High Academy to be your guide." Flora said

"We hope that you'll learn a lot from these wonderful princes and princesses. And we hope you will enjoy this day." Fauna said

"Now without further ado, we would like to introduce to you our top students at the Royal Senior High Academy." Merryweather gestured for Sofia and the others to come in

"We have our top princes: Prince Hugo of Sagax, Prince Zandar of Tangu, and of course Prince James of Enchancia." Flora announced

The girls started shrieking and fawning over the princes. The boys also shouted to their role models.

"Ahem, quiet please! Now we have our top princesses: Princess Hildegard of Friezenburg, Princess Clio of Corinthia, Princess Vivian of Zumaria, and you all know Princess Amber and Princess Sofia of Enchancia." Flora continued

The students started shouting even more. The princes and princesses kept hearing, 'We love you', 'You're the best', etc. which made them sort of blush though Hugo composed himself to not blush, as this isn't a princely thing for his book.

"Please quiet down young princes and princesses. Now I know you are all excited but as princes and princesses you need to control such emotions to be more proper." Flora scolded the students

"Yes Miss Flora." They all said in unison

"Ok then, why don't we all introduce ourselves first so we can get to know each other. Then later we will take you on a tour to the academy and even play some fun activities." Sofia smiled at the students

"Yes!" they all cheered

"But first we'll sing a song to introduce and welcome you all to RPA." Amber said and looked at Sofia and the others

'**Sofia**: When someone new enrolls here  
at good ol' Royal Prep  
They're at that great beginning  
They're taking that first step

**Amber**: Your lessons will commence here  
once you pass through this door

**James**: So why not come and join us  
And see what lies in store?

**Vivian**: You'll learn the art of manners  
Of royal protocol

**Clio**: That's right

**Hildegard**: And when to bow and curtsey  
for functions big and small

**Zandar**: You'll read books of fact and fiction  
Of poetry and prose

**Hugo**: You'll learn to give a royal speech  
while perfectly composed

**All**: At Royal Prep, step-by-step  
You'll gain wisdom and pep  
So heed the call  
Come be all you can be

**Amber**: Every task, every test

**Sofia**: Just give it your best

**James**: And we'll do the rest  
You'll see  
And don't forget our motto

**Amber**: To which you'll be true

**Sofia**: "Rule over others  
as you'd have them rule over you"

**All**: You're taking your first step  
at Royal Prep

**Hugo**: We'll explore enchanted objects  
Each creature, every charm

**Sofia**: So spells of evil magic  
will never do you harm

**Vivian**: In arts and crafts, you'll draw and paint  
Or maybe work with wood

**James**: You'll learn to fence as well as dance  
For footwork both are good

**All**: At Royal Prep, step-by-step  
You'll gain wisdom and pep

**Boys**: So heed the call  
Come be all you can be

**Girls**: Every task, every test

**Boys**: Just give it your best

**Girls**: And we'll do the rest  
You'll see

**Boys**: And don't forget our motto  
To which you'll be true

**Girls**: "Rule over others  
as you'd have them rule over you"

**All**: We're royal all the way

**Boys**: All the way

**Girls**: At good 'ol RPA

**Boys**: RPA

**Girls**: It's step by step

**All**: With wisdom, grace and pep  
At Royal Prep'

They all bowed and the students clapped and cheered.

* * *

"So this is the Royal Prep stables. This where we take care of all our flying horses that will participate in derby races. In the past, only princes can be on the team but apparently thanks to my sister, Sofia, it changed and she proved to everyone that even princesses can do princely things." James explained

"And ever since then, princesses can now participate in the flying derby all thanks to my dearest sister, Sofia." Amber added as she hugged Sofia in a tight squeeze

"Thanks James, Amber but it really wasn't a big deal."

Then one of the students started to pull Sofia's dress.

"What is it? Is there something that you want?" Sofia bent down and asked the little girl

"C-can we see you race?"

"Huh? Well…" Sofia glanced at James

James nodded to Sofia and she smiled at James.

"Ok." Sofia answered

"Hey why don't we have a little friendly competition between the three greatest flying derby racers?" Hugo suggested

"Sure, why not…" James accepted his challenge

"Geez, there you two go again…" Sofia sighed

"Alright children, why don't we all sit at the benches while Princess Sofia, Prince James, and Prince Hugo get their horses ready." Amber clapped her hands and guided the students and the others helped Amber watch over them.

Amber really changed. She really had developed the older-sister-figure. If it were the old Amber, she wouldn't know what to do and just whine of how they could leave her with all the children, but now it seems like she can take control of any difficult situations.

Sofia, James, and Hugo prepared their horses. They grabbed their saddles and place them on their horses.

"Hey, Electra. Ready for a little race?" Hugo asked as he got her out of her place and put on the saddle

Electra just neighed to Hugo saying 'of course'.

"Hello Bolt, great to see you. Hope you're ready for a race…" James smiled at his horse

"Oh Minimus, I'm so happy to see you again." Sofia hugged her friend

Minimus had grown a lot. He was no longer the little pony he once was, though he's still shorter than most of the other horses but he was still proud. He gained a lot of strength and improved his agility. He became a magnificent flying horse. He and Electra were requested to stay at the Royal stables so they can teach new trainers and new flying horses so they weren't able to stay with their owners for a while.

'Hey Sofia, what's happening today?'

"Today we are going to have a race with James and Hugo so we can put on a little show for the new students. It might even be a great way to encourage them to try out for the derby team." Sofia whispered

'I see, but I don't think that's what Hugo and James had in mind.'

"I know. I just wished they wouldn't turn this into another one of their 'competitions' and hurt themselves… again." Sofia sighed

'But even if you try—'

"I wouldn't be able to stop them anyway. It's those two we're talking about after all." Sofia laughed nervously as she rode Minimus

James and Hugo rode their horses, too.

"Alright, let's go." Sofia said

James and Hugo nodded and they all went to the practice field.

"Alright you know what to do." Amber said to the students as they all nodded

They all started to sing and dance the cheer.

"Huzzah! Huzzah!  
RPA!

Huzzah! Huzzah!  
For Royal Prep, for the red, and green, and blue  
We're all for one, and one for all  
At RPA, you'll hear our royal call

Huzzah! Huzzah!  
For Royal Prep! Yes, we're loyal through and through  
We rule on the field and off it too  
That's for Royal Prep to a T we're true

Sofia and James and Hugo too  
Huzzah! Huzzah!  
For red, and green, and blue  
That's Royal Prep to a T we're true

Huzzah!"

"Ok let the race… begin!" Zandar yelled

The race began and Hugo and James went on full speed.

"Oh boy…" Sofia sighed "Let's go Minimus." They flew fast to catch up to the two princes

"And James and Hugo take the lead!" Zandar announced

"Here they go again…" Amber sighed and placed her hand on her forehead as she sat down

"Oh tell me this isn't happening." Clio said

"Oh it is alright. It's another one of their 'rivalry matches'. And we all know how this ends." Hildegard said

"I'll call the infirmary." Vivian said as she walked back to the school

"Well on the bright side— umm." Clio said as they all turned to her

"What bright side? We all know that when it James + Hugo + competitions = disaster." Amber complained

"Chill Amber at least the kids are happy."

"Yeah until they see James and Hugo in the infirmary."

"Sofia's there, I'm sure she's stop them before anything happens to them."

"Let's just hope so."

* * *

Meanwhile, an old enemy is watching them from a magic cauldron.

"Soon, I will finally have my revenge! Just have to wait for the right moment."

* * *

"Hey they're going to the last course!" Zandar said

"I brought the nurses." Vivian said. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not much, they're almost at the finish line. They just have to get through the last obstacle." Clio said

Hugo and James are still tied at first and kept on speeding up. They were headed to the last obstacle, passing through the hoop hedge.

"Good, in this obstacle there can only one horse to pass through at a time so there won't be any injuries made any time soon." Amber said

"I guess but no one knows for sure. Those two are definitely going to take this chance to win it." Zandar said

* * *

"Finally! Now's the time to finish off that pesky little princess! I call upon the ancient power. I command you to curse this flower!"

* * *

The hedge was turning into dark thick sharp thorns. Sofia's amulet slightly glowed and Sofia noticed it.

"Oh no what's that?!" Sofia noticed the thorns, "James! Hugo! Stop!" she yelled but they couldn't hear it and they were too busy fighting each other to notice the thorns.

"I am so winning this!" Hugo said

"Yeah you'll win second place!" James answered back

"Minimus, we have to go and catch up with them. We have to move at maximum speed."

'We might crash into them."

"It will be better instead of them going through that hole."

'Got it!'

Sofia and Minimus increased their speed as fast as they could. Minimus flapped his wings with all he got.

"What is Sofia doing?! They're going to hit each other at this rate!" Amber exclaimed

"Hey look at the hedge! Something's wrong with it!" Hildegard yelled

"I don't the boys have noticed it. They're seriously not stopping." Clio said

"But I think Sofia has and now she's trying to stop them." Vivian said

"Oh no!" Amber cried

"Huh? Sofia's speeding up!" James said as he looked behind him

"If she doesn't slow down she's gonna crash into us."

"Come on, its Sofia she'd never—" James looked behind him again and saw Sofia still flying fast. "Or not…"

"Sofia! Slow down!" Hugo yelled as he tried to go faster

Sofia was still going. She shut her eyes and braced herself.

"Ahhh!" They all yelled as they crashed. The others gasped and quickly went down.

The impact made Sofia fall off Minimus and she went through the hoop.

* * *

"Yes! My plan worked! Hahahahaha! At last! The cursed has been placed on Princess Sofia! Now it's only a matter of time."

* * *

"Urgh, what happened?" James rubbed his head

"Are you alright?!" Amber asked as she helped his brother up

"Yeah sort of." James replied

"What's with the weird plant?" Hugo asked

"We don't know. Sofia flew to you fast so you wouldn't reach it." Hildegard said

"Sofia? Where's Sofia?!" James panicked that he didn't see her

"Oh no Sofia?!" Amber cried

"There! She on the other side!" Vivian yelled

"Sofia!" James ran towards Sofia and held her in his arms

"Sof, are you alright?!" Amber said

"I think so. I don't feel anything." Sofia answered

"Still, let's get you to the infirmary and get you checked up." James said as her carried Sofia in a bridal carry.

* * *

"You don't seem to have any broken bones or any bump in your head. Do you have a headache or feel any pain in your body?" the nurse asked

"No. I feel fine."

"Let's check first to be sure, can you remove your coat."

"Ok." Sofia removed her riding coat and revealed a big bleeding wound in her arm.

"Oh my!" the nurse exclaimed

"Sofia!" James yelled with a lot of worry and felt the pain struck his heart as he saw Sofia like this

"Sofia how could you not feel this?! Look it's still bleeding and… and I think I'm gonna faint…" Amber slowly fell but Hugo caught her

Hildegard and Clio started to wave their fan at Amber as she sat down the chair while Hugo put his arm around her to support her.

"But I don't feel anything. Even I'm shocked to see this." Sofia said

"Princess Sofia, please don't move so much. I have to put the bandage on you."

"Sofia, a-are you sure?" James held her hand

Sofia only shook her head and looked into James eyes. James knew Sofia was telling the truth but still this confused him.

"We've already sent the children home for today. And we've already asked the headmistresses to look at the weird thorns." Zandar said as he and Vivian walked into the room

"Sofia are you alright?" Vivian asked

"I think so but I have this odd wound but I didn't feel any pain."

"How could that be?" Vivian thought out loud

"The thorns! I think those thorns did this!" James exclaimed

"You're right Prince James." Flora said as she entered the room

"But how?!" Amber asked

"It's called Maledictus Spinam or Cursed Blackthorn. It happened to Sofia because she hit the thorns earlier. It causes slow death to the victim and the worst part is that she won't feel anything. She will gently fall asleep and close her eyes forever." Flora exclaimed

They all gasped.

"But there's a cure right? There is right?!" James bawled

"We haven't found a cure for that now, but we will try to find it. We've already summoned the Magic Council to discuss this."

James faced his head to the ground and closed his fists, trying to stop his tears from falling.

"Please don't lose hope, Prince James and all of you too." Flora placed her hands on James' shoulders.

"There has to be a way!" James couldn't help it and a tear from his eye fell.

Suddenly, Sofia's amulet started to glow brightly. It glowed bigger and brighter than ever.

"What's happening?!" Sofia exclaimed

"Sofia, what's going on with your amulet?!" Amber asked

A beautiful lady with long platinum blonde hair and fair skin, wearing a long violet dress with long sleeves, and silver shoes and jewelries with diamonds, and a diamond tiara with purple gem in the middle.

"Whoa…" they all gasped

"Who are you?" Sofia asked

"My name is Princess Cynthia. I am from the kingdom of Avalor."

* * *

**A/N**

**Sorry for suddenly cutting it. Hope you liked it so far.**

**I would just like to tell you that Princess Cynthia is my OC and as for the rest of the story will not have ANY relation to the series/upcoming series "Elena of Avalor" which will be a prequel of the story of Sofia the First in 2016.**

**Please write a review of your comments and suggestions but please don't too harsh on the mistakes in grammar. I'm not really good in English.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

**I am so sorry it took so long. My computer suddenly crashed and when I got it repaired, I lost ALL of my files. And I had to rewrite all my stories all over again which is so hard because some parts are now gone and I don't remember much. The next chapter might take a while because I'm still in the process of recovering the files, apps, etc. that I lost.**

* * *

Chapter 2

"My name is Princess Cynthia. I am from the kingdom of Avalor."

"Avalor? What kind of kingdom is that? And here I thought I know all the kingdoms." Amber said

"Kingdom of Avalor? Does this mean this amulet is—?" Sofia asked

"Yes, it is from our kingdom." Princess Cynthia said. "But we have given it to the kingdom of Enchancia for protection."

"Avalor? Now where have I—" Flora kept thinking about the place that seemed so familiar to her. "Could it be the legend is true?"

"What legend?" James asked Flora

"It was said that before any other kingdoms were made, the very first one was the kingdom of Avalor. It was said to be the source of every magic spells and objects and creatures ever made. Though it's the most ancient kingdom, it had advanced greatly to all magic. But no one has ever seen it for a very long time that it became a legend. No one truly knows if it's real or not… until now." Flora explained

"Yes that is all true but not exactly the entire story. But now is not the time for this, Sofia…" Cynthia said in a serious tone

"Yes?"

"Your life and the rest of the magical world are in danger. As Flora had told you, you had been struck by the Blackthorn Curse which can kill you if you are not cured. And if you die the world will be in chaos."

"How can this affect the whole world?!" Sofia exclaimed

"Sofia, the Amulet of Avalor is special. It was made hundreds of years ago which would mean it possesses the greatest magical powers since the beginning of time. And you alone can control it. If you die, there will be no else to do it and if it falls into the wrong hands, it will be destruction of life as we know it. Even other princes and princesses in here now cannot do it and it might even result to a disaster, because no one else has a pure heart such as yours, Sofia. The Amulet of Avalor is neither good nor bad as what you have known its rule…"

"With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse!" Sofia stated

"Yes that is its rule. It knows its wearer's heart. If the person had a good heart, the amulet become good and grants powerful blessings but if the person has an evil heart then the amulet becomes evil that brings out curses."

"I've been wearing this amulet for years and I only know so little of its power."

"The Amulet of Avalor does possess a lot of mysteries that even I have yet to uncover." Cynthia said

"Sofia, what is happening here? What's the thing with your amulet?" Amber demanded an explanation

Sofia thought for a moment if she should tell everything. She looked at Princess Cynthia for an answer and she nodded at her. She has decided to finally tell everyone about the secret she's been keeping for ten years.

"I think it's about time you know…"

"…" Her friends were ready to listen

"This amulet is called the Amulet of Avalor. It's very special because it gives powers. It gave me a power to talk to animals. It gave me that flower because I did a good deed by helping a baby bird."

"So that's why you hang around and talk to that bunny all the time."

"Yes, but that's not all. It can also summon the princesses. They always come to help me whenever I needed advice on something."

"Like, when we met Princess Jasmine and Mulan? That was because of your amulet?"

"Yeah, but it can also give me a curse for doing something bad."

"So you've been keeping this a secret for ten years? Why didn't you ever tell me? I'm your sister." Amber got a bit mad at her

"W-well technically I did but…"

"Sofia, I would've remembered if it was something as important as this you know…"

"It's a long story, Amber."

"Alright, fine…" Amber sighed but she knew she couldn't stay mad at Sofia that long though she's still sulking that she didn't know about it.

"Princess Cynthia?" James said to get Cynthia's attention

"Yes, Prince James?"

"Do you have any idea on how to cure Sofia? That amulet must've brought you here for a reason right?!" James pleaded

"Supposedly…" Cynthia said sadly

"What do you mean?" Sofia asked

"That Blackthorn curse is a very ancient curse that's known by so little. There used to be a cure for that but…"

"But?" they all said

"The book that had about how to cure it had been stolen…"

"What?!"

"Someone broke into our kingdom and stole the sacred ancient book. We don't know who it is. We don't even know when they did it since we hardly check the library since there's a great creature guarding it but apparently, whoever stole it had great magic since he or she was able to tame this creature. We only found out about it recently when the Amulet of Avalor warned us since it's still magically connected to our kingdom." Cynthia said

"So how are we going to break this curse?"

"It's best if you come to Avalor, maybe we'll somehow find the answers if Sofia and the amulet are there…"

"Then how do we get there?" James immediately asked

"James…? You're coming?" Sofia's eyes widened with shock

"Of course, I am. You can't do this on your own and I won't let you."

"I'm coming too!" Amber raised her hand

"Me too." Hugo raised his hand too

"Amber… Hugo?"

"You're my sister, Sof… You can't expect me to just sit around and watch you die. If had a chance to do something to help you, I'd take it no matter what the consequences are…" Amber said with a serious face

"Oh Amber, thank you…" Sofia hugged her older sister. "Hugo?"

"Hey somebody has to look after you too and little princey here." Hugo smirked as he teased James

"Oh really? We'll see who's the little princey when we get there, Hugo." James answered with confidence and annoyance

"Bring it then." Hugo grinned

"Hey count us in!" Zandar, Vivian, Hildegard, Clio raised their hands too

"What? Vivian, you know that you don't have to do this." Sofia said

"But I want to do it Sofia, especially if it means helping you, you know I'd do it. You would've done the same for me." Vivian hugged Sofia

"Thanks." Sofia hugged her back

"Hey, I couldn't let my best friend, James go without me. We're stuck together and that's that." Zandar said as he patted James's back

"Thank buddy." James patted Zandar's back in return

"Clio, Hildegard… are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course!" Clio nodded her head

"We're sure Amber. You know that we couldn't possibly leave you. And besides it'd be great to tell this to the other princes and princesses about this. They'd be really impressed with me— I- I meant us." Hildegard fluttered her fan on her face

"Are you all sure? It won't be easy… you'll face a lot of dangers in this journey that if you don't work together, you might not be able to come back." Cynthia warned them

The princes and princesses all looked at each other and nodded.

"We're sure." They all said

"Alright… you all must first go to the Kingdom of Hakalo. The families of Avalor and Hakalo during the ancient time had been close friends and there is a hidden portal somewhere in Hakalo that can lead you to Avalor."

"But how are going to get to Hakalo? It's a hidden island after all. There's no way we can find it." Amber said

"You will just have to use the Emerald Key then." Cynthia said

"Oh yeah, I remember. But the royal family of Hakalo had already returned to Hakalo…" James frowned

"Wait maybe Lei-Lani can help. If we can find a way to communicate with her, maybe she can help us to go to Hakalo." Sofia said

"Alright then!"

"Sofia, before you go… I need to put a slightly counter spell on you. In case you couldn't make the whole journey and started to feel yourself blacking out, I'll make you fall asleep but only for a period of time so you wouldn't have to die right away. But you wouldn't have much time."

"Okay."

Cynthia started to raise her hands and recite the spell.

"I summon the ancient sun and moon, to lend us your power and heal this princess from the cursed blackthorn to cease. Make her sleep for a period of time just before the dark eternal slumber arrives…"

A bright white glow surrounded Sofia. She was lifted to the air and let the light consume her. Princess Cynthia slowly lowered her hands and Sofia was slowly brought down to the ground asleep. James immediately caught the sleeping Sofia in his arms.

"Don't worry the… she's only resting, the spell is probably taking affect. Since a counter spell is inside her, the two spells will be fighting and she might get tired often but that only means that this spell I used is too weak and only shows that the curse is taking affect in her body though she won't feel any pain, you can at least see it." Cynthia explained

A white flower suddenly appeared on Sofia's arm.

"What is this?" James asked

"It can tell you how long before she can last. Each petal will turn black as time passes by. Once it turns completely black, she will fall under a deep sleep. And when the flower completely disappears… it will be too late by then…"

"How long do we have?"

"I only slowed the process but that doesn't mean that you have much time. I'd say about a month or so but that isn't much time at all so you have to hurry before it fully consumes her and she would supposedly be gone but the counter spell will make her fall asleep and give her a few more hours. But I hope it wouldn't come to that point…"

"Alright… we'll leave in a few hours." James said to the others

"Ok, let's go back to the palace then." Amber said

"You go on ahead. I have to get our horses for this trip. I'll see you guys there. Oh and also prepare a coach." Hugo said as he ran back to the stables

"Of course." Amber replied

They all went back to their carriage and flew back to Enchancia.

* * *

"Amber, James? Back so soon— what happened to Sofia?!" Roland was shocked when he saw Sofia unconscious.

"Oh no, is she alright? Is she hurt?" Miranda worriedly asked

"She's just resting Mom, Dad, but…"

"What?"

"We'll explain it to you later right now let's get Sofia to her bedroom." Amber immediately said

Roland and Miranda nodded. They all went to Sofia's room and stayed with her. James and Amber started to explain what happened.

* * *

"So now we have to go to Hakalo so they can lead us to Avalor."

"Oh no, so Sofia is cursed?! A-and s-she might—" Miranda started to crying at the thought of her daughter dying

"Mom, please don't cry. We'll find the cure. I promise…" James smiled reassuringly to Miranda.

"When will you leave?" Roland asked

"We don't know. We haven't got a clue on how we are going to find Hakalo." James said

"Sofia did say that we just need to find Princess Lei-Lani and she can help us." Amber said

"Yeah, but how? She's also in Hakalo you know."

"hmm…" Sofia weakly mumbled

"Sofia!" James quickly went to Sofia to aid her

"Sofia, you're awake!" Amber squealed

"Are you alright now?" Miranda asked

"Yeah, I'm alright." Sofia nodded as she sat up

"Ah, you shouldn't get up so fast, Sof. You still need to rest." James insisted

"I'm fine James… and besides you need help to find Lei-Lani. I may be asleep but I could still hear your voices and I know that you need my help."

"Yeah, but we still don't know how. We haven't even heard from them in years since." James said

"I think I know someone who can help…"

* * *

"Hand me that bottle over there, Wormy." Cedric pointed at one of the shelves while he stirred the potion in the cauldron

The raven handed Cedric the bottle.

"Thank you." Cedric said as he took the bottle and opened it. "Now be still, we have to be very careful not to put too much…" Cedric started to slowly pour the liquid

"Mr. Cedric!" a certain princess yelled as she knocked at the door

"Whoa!" Cedric's hand slipped and dropped the bottle as he was surprised by the sudden but not so unusual noise.

The potion in the cauldron exploded and covered the room. Wormwood opened the window to let the smoke out. Cedric sighed as he casted a spell to make the smoke disappear and to clean up the mess.

Cedric was still the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia. He stopped trying to steal the Amulet of Avalor from Sofia, though he still wants it, but decided to withdraw from doing so. There are times when he'd pull a stunt on stealing the amulet but obviously fails. Soon he became close to the royal family, especially Sofia, that he became loyal to them. He eventually followed the footsteps of his father, which his mother disapproved and was disappointed of but she accepted him in the end though sometimes she still encourages Cedric to be a dark sorcerer. He became a great sorcerer and rarely made mistakes on his magic.

"Yes?" Cedric said with annoyance as he opened the door. "What is it that you want Princess Sofia—?" Cedric was surprised to see that Sofia wasn't alone. "And Prince James? Princess Amber?"

"We need your help." Sofia said

Cedric was about to protest at them, thinking that it's another stunt like party games, magic shows, and other stupid things that they made him do, but he saw how serious their faces were and realized that it's not another silly game.

"What is it?" Cedric asked

"We need a spell to communicate with a person from a far and unknown location." Sofia answered

"That a difficult one especially if we do not have a specific location. Who is it that you need to speak with? Do you at least know the name of this place?"

"Well, it's Princess Lei-Lani from the kingdom of Hakalo."

"The Kingdom of Hakalo? That will be hard since Hakalo is a hidden kingdom after all."

"We know… that's why we needed your help Cedric." Amber

"I see… it might take a while, but I'm positive I can conjure a spell to do it. I might be able to give it to you tomorrow in the afternoon."

"Thank you Mr. Cedric." Sofia said

"Let's go and tell the others so we can start preparing and planning for this trip." James said

"Okay." Sofia nodded

They all thanked and bowed to Cedric before they left the room.

* * *

Sofia, Amber, and James were walking down the hall when they heard a noise from outside.

"Hey did I just hear someone neigh?" James said

"It's Hugo with Minimus and the others. They're finally here." Sofia said as she was looking out the window.

"Uh— yeah, finally…" James sighed

Sofia immediately ran outside to meet Hugo.

"Wait up, Sof!" James tried to catch up to her. Did she want to see Hugo that badly that she'd leave her brother like that? James became irritated and slightly jealous at the thought.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Amber yelled at James as she was left alone at the door

"Hugo!" Sofia called

"Oh hello Sofia. I brought Electra, Minimus, and Bolt so we can use them for the coach. We'll need the best flying horses for this trip so we can get there faster." Hugo said

"Yeah, thanks. Where's Minimus?"

"He's over there with your bunny. Hey you know… before we leave, why don't you and I ride th— Sofia?" Hugo looked around and saw that Sofia was not in front of him anymore. He turned around and saw that she was already with Minimus.

'Hello, Princess." Clover greeted

"Hi Clover, Hi Minimus." Sofia waved at them

'Hey Sof, what's the deal? Back at Royal Prep, Hugo came and brought us here. While we were on our way, he was talking to us? He said something about you being cursed and now you have to find a cure? What the heck is going on Sof?' Minimus asked

"Well, you see it's a long story. Those thorns earlier were cursed and now we have to go to Avalor to find a cure. You see I told them the power the amulet gave me so they know you can understand them. Anyways for now you all should probably get some rest."

'Ok. I'll get Electra and Bolt." Minimus walked away towards the other horses

'I'll stay with them, okay?' Clover asked

"Okay…" Sofia watched her animal friend walk away

"Hey Sofia, can we ta—" Hugo was cut off when they heard someone yelling

"Sofia!" James was running towards them. He was trying to catch his breath when he reached them

"Tch." Hugo was really irritated to be interrupted, again.

"James! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it Sof." James smiled at her

"Sorry, I suddenly left you back there. I was just excited to see Minimus since I didn't get the chance to see him at the academy."

"I understand…" James smiled even more when he found out the reason wasn't Hugo

"Anyways, Minimus and the others are already at the stables resting."

"Ok, we should probably head to the others now. We have to tell them what to do next." James said

* * *

"Geez, seriously why did you two have to run like that and leave me here waiting?" Amber crossed her arms with an angry face

"I'm really sorry Amber. I was worried about Minimus. I didn't see him after what happened at the infirmary."

"Sorry sis." James tried to hold his laughter

"Fine, whatever. Let's just go. The others must be terribly worried about us by now."

"Hey guys. We're back." James said

"Oh welcome back, we were starting to get worried about you." Vivian said

"Hugo's back too…" Zandar said

"Yeah. I just arrived earlier. I had to place the horses in the stables to get them ready for tomorrow." Hugo said

"Tomorrow? But I thought we were going to leave today." Hildegard asked

"Apparently we still have to wait because Cedric is still trying to figure out the right spell." James replied

"But it's alright, at least now we can all have some rest. We'll all be too tired anyway to go on a trip today." Sofia said

"Ok, I guess."

"We'll ask Baileywick to have the guest rooms prepared." Roland said as he and Miranda left the room.

"Thank you Father, Mother." Amber said

"So now what do we do?" Zandar asked

"Hey since we're in the library why don't we try and search for something here while we wait. Who knows… maybe we can find something about that amulet or something." Hugo said

They suddenly stared at Hugo for a moment with a curious and strange look in their eyes.

"What?" Hugo raised his eyebrow

"N-nothing, it's just that… it's kinda hard for us to believe you'd say something like that…"

"What the heck do you mean?"

"Hugo, you don't really seem like the type who'd actually like books or even read them."

"Hey! I read books in fact I kinda like them. I often hang with Sofia at the library when we don't have derby practices or anything else to do, right Sofia?"

"True. Even I was shocked at first when I found him there." Sofia giggled

"Urgh nevermind let's just go and search already…"

The princes and princesses searched and searched the entire library but they didn't find anything in the end. Sofia looked outside the window and noticed how late it was already.

"I think we should all head to our rooms now. It's getting pretty late." Sofia said

James looked outside the window "Oh you're right Sof."

"I'll call Baileywick and have you all escorted you to your rooms." Amber left the library

As soon as Baileywick arrived, he Vivian, Hildegard, Clio, Zandar, and Hugo to the guest rooms while James, Sofia, and Amber went to their own rooms.

* * *

Sofia arrived at her room and went to her closet to change her clothes.

"Hey Clover—" She looked around and remembered that Clover was staying at the stables with Minimus.

Sofia lied down on her bed and tried to sleep but she couldn't. Sofia kept thinking about the curse and Avalor. For ten years, she knew the power of the amulet but she never once was curious about where it came from. She was so shocked to learn all of these. She just found out that there is a kingdom called Avalor. Now she actually has to go there… it was too much for her. And she also has a curse on her that can kill her. Her being cursed isn't new to her, she's been cursed before but it never put her life in danger and not to mention the entire world. The fate of the entire world is actually in the hands of an 18 years old girl. Sofia couldn't help but think of 'what ifs'. It scared her…

Sofia couldn't sleep so she decided to take a walk around the gardens and get some fresh air.

* * *

Meanwhile a certain young prince was thinking about the same problems and another.

James couldn't sleep either. He kept on thinking of what to do. It'd be easier if they actually knew the place so they wouldn't have any trouble of finding it so they could get there faster. He was so afraid of what's happening to Sofia. Sure, she doesn't feel anything but deep inside she's dying. The thought of James losing the only girl he had ever loved was painful to him that he could feel heart tearing apart. He couldn't take any more of these kinds of thoughts so he walked out of his room to calm down and release some of these worries.

* * *

Sofia was walking around the gardens and let out a big sigh. "What should I do?"

Suddenly she heard something rustle behind the bushes.

"Who's there?" Sofia asked nervously

"Huh? Sof? Is that you?"

Sofia recognized whose voice it is and calmed down. "James?"

James came out and walked to wards Sofia. "What are you doing here Sofia?" he asked

"Me? What are you doing here? You scared me for a moment there."

"Sorry Sof. I couldn't sleep and just thought of relaxing here for a while."

"You too?" Sofia sighed

"I guess you couldn't sleep either?"

Sofia nodded. "I'm just so worried and I guess a bit afraid of what's going to happen… I mean I still have a month before this stupid curse consumes me but still—"

"Is a month enough time…" James finished Sofia's sentence. "I know, eve I'm scared too. I'm also worried about that. It's a race against time…"

"Exactly…"

"Let's go somewhere that we don't have anything to worry about tonight. We'll just talk and have fun. No curses, no magic, no amulet, no Avalor…" James suggested

"Okay…" Sofia thought of a great place. "I know! Come on James." Sofia grabbed James's hand and pulled him to that special place.

* * *

After they went through the maze, they suddenly stopped.

James was still catching his breath. "Hey Sofia where are we?"

"We're here, James."

"Huh? Here?" James looked around and saw nothing but tall walls of hedges.

"Here James." Sofia pointed at a part of the hedge

"Uh Sofia, that's still a hedge." James was confused

"No silly." Sofia giggled. She started to pull some leaves at a part of it and revealed a doorknob.

"Whoa." James realized that it was a door and remembered what it was. "Sofia could this be—?"

"My secret garden." Sofia pushed the door and revealed a beautiful and magical place

"Wow… it's been a long time."

"Yeah, we haven't had any tea party in here for years. Amber probably doesn't even remember this so this just became my own secret garden. I come here every now and then." Sofia grabbed a cloth that she kept hidden in one of the trees, and set it on the ground.

"How nostalgic… we used to play around here a lot when we were kids." James sat beside Sofia

"Yeah… The door was hidden because the plant kept growing and covered it so now it really became a secret and hidden garden." Sofia giggled

"I really liked this place. It's the only place where I can stand Amber's tea parties." James laughed

"You have to admit, Amber's tea parties that were held here were great. It was relaxing and you can really feel the warm and soft breeze." Sofia closed her eyes for a bit and felt the cold wind of the night that passed through her skin

"And I can actually play around here unlike the tea parties or any parties held in the castle. It's like when I'm here I don't have to worry. I can be myself here…" James smiled at the thought. He doesn't have to worry about being prince and future king

"I'm glad that we're actually enjoying ourselves." Sofia smiled

"We don't have to talk about the problems that we have right now because it's tomorrow's problem." James said

"Tomorrow… we're going to leave tomorrow. It's going to be the start of this adventure. We won't have the time to do this again." Sofia frowned

"Don't worry about that now Sof and let's just enjoy this moment of peace that we have right now…" James gently pulled Sofia head to his shoulder and let her fall asleep.

* * *

James took Sofia to her room. He lied her down on her bed and gently covered her with her blanket. He tucked her in and caressed her face.

"I promise you Sofia that I'll definitely find the cure to remove this curse from you no matter what, even if it costs me my own life… I love you…" James whispered and kissed Sofia's forehead before leaving the room.

* * *

**A/N**

**Please write your reviews and comments about this chapter. **

**And by the way I stated it from the start that this will be a James/Sofia fanfic don't complain about it. And it is not incest because they aren't biological siblings but step-siblings. I like the pairing James and Sofia because it has a bit of that forbidden love thing like Romeo and Juliet or whatever. It adds more drama to the story which means that they have more obstacles to overcome than normal couples which is adorable for me because it shows how much they are willing to go through for their love.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

**Yeah so sorry for the wait though I did say it will take a while, still I apologize for making you guys wait so long.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Sofia woke and looked around at her surroundings and noticed that she was in her room.

"How did I— oh James must've brought me here after I fell asleep last night." She thought

Suddenly she heard someone knocking at the door.

"Who is it?" Sofia asked

"It's me, James."

"Oh, come in then."

"Good morning Sof." James greeted as he entered the room

"Good morning. I was surprised that it was you since when did you learn to knock?" Sofia giggled

James laughed. "Hey! Of course I knock at your door."

"Since when?"

"I did, like when I— umm… well."

"See?"

"Well just expect to hear me knocking more, cause well like Amber said I don't want an 'accident' to happen…"

"When did you ever listen to Amber?" Sofia laughed louder

"Even I'm surprised at myself too you know… but since Amber changed, she's often right about things now even though I really want to admit it but don't ever tell her, ok? Or I might never hear the end of it from her." James sarcastically said

"Ok, I promise." Sofia giggled

"Amber's changed a lot and so have I, but I never have expected that I will be a 'listening to Amber type' but I guess we all just go into some unexpected changes." James chuckled

"Yeah, but it's a good change." Sofia smiled.

James just stared into Sofia beautiful eyes. Soon he was lost in a daydream. He was just staring at them thinking how beautiful she has become over the years and how her kindness had never changed which were some of the reasons his love for her grew.

"So what brings you here?" Sofia asked "Uh James?" Sofia stared at him with a confused look. "James… James!" she yelled

"Huh? What?" James finally snapped out of his daydream

"James are you ok?" she said with a worried face

"Huh? Uh yeah. What was it that you were saying again Sof?"

Sofia sighed "I was asking you what were you doing here."

"Oh yes, of course… umm Cedric asked everyone to come downstairs because he thinks that he found a spell to find Princess Lei-Lani."

"What?! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Sofia jumped off her bed and into her closet. "I'll be down there in a minute." She grabbed her favorite purple dress

"Ok."

"Uh, James…"

"What?" James looked at Sofia for a moment and her eyes were telling him to go. "O-oh r-right, I-I should go… I'll see downstairs…" James hurriedly left the room

"_Well that was embarrassing! Damn urgh! Just great… way to go James! I must've looked stupid back there." James kept on saying in his mind as he made his way downstairs_

* * *

Sofia, James, Amber, Hugo, Vivian, Zandar, Clio, Hildegard, as well as Baileywick, King Roland, and Queen Miranda were there to watch Cedric cast the spell. Everyone was at the courtyard in case if the spell didn't work nothing would get destroyed in the castle. Sofia, James, Amber, Hugo, Vivian, Zandar, Clio, Hildegard, as well as Baileywick, King Roland, and Queen Miranda were there to watch Cedric cast the spell.

"It looks like everyone is finally here, Cedric. You can begin." King Roland ordered

"Of course your majesties" Cedric turned around and started to wave the ancient family wand. He pointed the wand at the pond and got a portion of water and made it float in front of him. "I summon the powers of the earth and sky, let us see Princess Lei-Lani of Hakalo from this water that we shall seek a hidden island that shall no longer be out of sight."

Cedric raised his wand up to the sky and a bolt of lightning struck the wand and he pointed it to the water. He shouted "_Provocant Aliquis Procul._" The lightning was released and went to the water. Slowly it started to form an image.

* * *

Meanwhile in Hakalo…

There was a certain Princess with long wavy black hair that was tied in a ponytail. She had a tanned skin and dark brown eyes. She wore a brown dress that reaches above her knee with a reddish brown cloth belt around her waist. She was at a garden and was picking some flowers. A strong wind blew in the place and she noticed a weird portal appeared beside her.

"W-what is this?!" she looked at it closely and noticed blurred figures behind the object.

The figures became clearer and clearer every second, then she heard voices coming from it.

"…ani…" it mumbled

"What?"

"Lani!"

"S-Sofia?!" Lei-Lani was shocked to see that it was her friend Sofia.

* * *

"Hey, guys. It's Lani. I can see Lani! The spell worked!" Sofia yelled with joy

"Good work Cedric."

"Lani!" Sofia yelled

"S-Sofia?!" Lei-Lani answered

"Hi! Lani!"

"Hey!" James waved at her

"Sofia, h-how—"

"It's a long story, Lani. I need your help." Sofia said

"O-ok what for?" Lani asked

"We need to go to Hakalo, can you help us?" Sofia asked

"W-why?"

"Because we have to go to Avalor."

Lani's eyes widened as she heard Sofia say Avalor. "How did you—"

"Remember this necklace?" Sofia showed her the amulet

Lani nodded

"This is the Amulet of Avalor. We really need to go there, Lani."

Lani thought about for a while and she turned to Sofia with a serious look. "Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can and I'll take you to Hakalo."

"Really?! Thank you."

"Can you meet me in the kingdom of Sagax?"

"My kingdom?!" Hugo exclaimed

"It'll be faster if we went somewhere close to Hakalo."

"I didn't know that Sagax was close to Hakalo."

"You should since you can often hear our ships pass by the palace."

"So those were you? My father and brother never told me about that."

"You can just ask them later, but meet me at the pier at the back of the palace."

"Ok." Sofia and the others nodded

The portal disappeared and they could no longer see Lei-Lani.

* * *

Sofia went to her room and got changed. She wore her riding outfit, a white shirt with long sleeves, a purple coat, black riding pants, and black boots. She tied her hair in a braid. She brought a few extra clothes, and some snacks and a few other necessities.

James wore a white shirt with his green coat, his riding pants, and black boots. He brought his sword that was given to him when he was training with the knights. He also brought a few of his surviving kit and others.

Hugo wore his usual outfit but changed into his riding pants and boots. He packed a few clothes. He also brought his sword and a dagger. He went to the stables to prepare the horses.

Amber quickly wore the white riding pants that she got as a present but never wore. Amber didn't have any riding suits so being Amber, she used her creative fashion skills and cut her royal blue dress and sewed a few other fabric together to make a beautiful shirt and coat. She also wore her hat with beautiful gems on it. She packed a few things, and food. Of course, Amber will never leave without a few tiaras and fans with her. After she finished, she proceeded to the stables to fetch the coach.

Hildegard and Clio went to Amber's room before she left and asked her help on their dresses. Amber also cut and sewed their dresses to make new clothes that were perfect for the trip. Amber borrowed a few of Sofia's pants and lent them to Hildegard and Clio. Hildegard's shirt was had the same turquoise fabric with a short skirt and Clio's was dark pink with an open coat.

Vivian borrowed one of Sofia's riding outfits. She wore a magenta shirt and coat, black pants, and dark purple boots. After they finished changing, Sofia and Vivian went to the castle entrance to meet with the others.

Zandar wore the same outfit and brought his family's dagger.

* * *

Afterwards, everyone met at the entrance and waited for Amber and Hugo to bring the coach.

"Hugo!" Amber called

"Hey, Amber."

"I brought the coach big enough to carry all eight of us."

"Thanks."

"Are you sure that they can carry this?"

"Hmm, maybe we could add another…"

"I'll ask the coachman to bring their best flying horse."

"Ok, I'll come with you."

* * *

"Hey, what's taking them so long?" James asked

"I'm they're on their way already." Sofia said

Suddenly they heard the coach coming towards them.

"Look there they are." Zandar pointed at the coach Amber and James were on.

"Finally! What took you so long to get here?"

"Urgh James how impatient can you be… we were just getting another flying horse for the coach."

The others got on the coach and placed their thing inside.

"Hey Clover!" Sofia greeted his bunny friend

'Hi Sof, ready for our adventure?' Clover asked

Sofia frowned at Clover, "I'm sorry clover but I can't let you come with us this time…"

'But why?' Clover stomped his foot

"It's too dangerous for you Clover and you might not be able to handle it… you're not as strong as you used to be, you know?"

'But still, I can help.'

"Yes you can but not by coming with us… can you please stay with Mom? I know how hard this is for her… can you stay by her side while we're gone?"

'… Ok Sof, but promise me you will be back soon.'

"I promise I'll be back before you can even say carrots" Sofia giggled

"Come on Sof, we have to go." James started to climb on to the driver seat when Hugo stopped him

"Sorry, Jamie, but I'm driving this one. It's my kingdom after all."

"So what?"

"I can get us there faster… unless you know a shortcut that's shorter than what I know." Hugo smirked at James

"Come on guys, don't fight about such a little thing as this." Sofia tried to stop the two from starting a fight

"Yeah, so just listen to Sofia and let me do it and you can just take a seat at the back." Hugo said

"Wha—?"

"James, let him do it. He knows Sagax better than anyone, like you said James, it's a race against time and we can't waste any second of it"

James couldn't do anything and just sighed, "Fine, alright Sof. But if we don't get there by this afternoon, I am so taking over." James sat on the coach with Sofia

"As if I'd let you…" Hugo grinned. "Is everyone ready?... let's go then! Hiya!"

The horses ran as fast as they can on the path. Soon Hugo commanded them to fly and they flapped their wings as hard and as fast as they can.

"Hold on tight!" Hugo warned them as they were about to fly on full speed.

"Ahhh!" They all yelled

They held on to the coach as tight as they can.

"Kyaa!" Sofia's hand's started to slip

"Sofia!" James went behind Sofia and wrapped his arms around while he held on to the coach to prevent her from falling.

"Huh?" Amber whispered to herself as she noticed this. "Ahh, my hat!" Amber's hat had flown away by the strong wind and she couldn't grab it in time. "Hugo!" she growled

"Sorry Amber! I'll get you a new one, I promise!" Hugo laughed

"Hmph! It'd better be with a hundred diamonds." Amber crossed her arms and sulked

"Okay okay…" Hugo then pulled the rope and calmed the horses down and made them all steadily flying above the sky.

* * *

After a few short hours they have reached the kingdom of Sagax.

"Hey, we're here!" Hugo announced

"Finally!" They all cheered

"Hey look it's Prince Axel!" Clio pointed below

"What? My brother is there?" Hugo asked

They all landed at the front of the castle.

"Hey there baby bro!" Axel ruffled Hugo's hair as he got down the coach

"Uh… hey to you too?" Hugo fixed his hair

"I see you brought guests! Good afternoon to you all!" Axel helped the princesses off the coach

"What are you doing here Axel?"

"What? Can't a big bro come home? Oh hello there Hildegard my dear little sister-in-law." Axel offered his hand to Hildegard to help her

"Oh, hello Axel is my big sister there?"

"Yes she's inside with Andrew ." Axel said, "Let's go to them, I'm sure she's be thrilled to see you all."

Axel got married to Hildegard's big sister, Isabella, a few years ago. Axel decided to live in Friezenburg and become the ruler there. They were blessed with a baby boy named Andrew who's now three years old.

"Uncle Hugo! Uncle Hugo!" a certain baby prince with wavy black hair with hazel eyes and fair skin was running towards Hugo

"Hey Andrew long time no see!" Hugo carried Andrew and spun him around

"Hello Andrew…" Hildegard caressed Andrew's cheeks

"Auntie Hildegard!" Andrew jumped off Hugo and hugged Hildegard

Hildegard managed to catch him and embraced her nephew.

"Hildegard?"

"Isabel!" Hildegard let go of Andrew and went to hug her older sister whom she hasn't seen for a long time since they were always away to discuss with the council

"Well isn't this a great reunion." Axel commented on the scene

"How are things with the council?" Hugo asked

"It's doing great. I figured since everything was going well so far we'd visit Sagax for a while." Axel smiled. "So how are you and Sofia?" Axel whispered to Hugo

"Wha—? N-not much, Sofia's my friend!" Hugo started to blush

"So you haven't asked her out?! Seriously? Man, I didn't think you were such a chicken."

"I am not."

"Really? You've liked this girl for five years and you still haven't asked her out. And here, I thought you were going to announce your engagement or something." Axel teased Hugo

"No way!"

"I'm just kidding baby bro, but on a more serious side, what are you doing here with your friend? You never used to invite anyone here."

"We are waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"Princess Lei-Lani of Hakalo."

"What? H-how do you know about her?"

"Of course I— wait… you know Princess Lei-Lani?" Hugo was shocked

Axel nodded.

* * *

They all went to the pier. Axel called their father to join them and tell Hugo the truth.

"Our families have known each other for a long time. We know them because they often pass by our kingdom and every once in a while they would come visit and trade some of out resources." Axel said

"How come I didn't know about this?" Hugo asked

"I only told your brother because the few people who know about this will be better since we are protecting their secret after all. I was going to tell you soon but all the things with the council and your brother's wedding and afterwards his kingdom business. I hadn't had much time to discuss it but I thought you were already aware because they pass by our kingdom every year." The father of Axel and Hugo explained

"You mean those loud and noisy ships that were always bothering me were them?" hugo asked

"Yes. They did stop on our land once about ten years ago. The king and queen of Hakalo rested at our palace when they were searching for their daughter who fell when a storm came and they lost their Emerald key…" their father said

"Wait, ten years ago?" Sofia asked

"That was when we first met Lei-Lani!" Amber concluded

"Yeah and we had to pick who was the real Lei-Lani between the two princesses who came to Enchancia." James added

"Yes, but we made a mistake and gave the key to this evil sorcerer named Mamanu." Amber said

"But luckily in the end we managed to get the Emerald key from her and Lani went back to Hakalo with her family." Sofia finished

"So that's what happened to her…" Axel said

"Wait how come I don't remember any of this?" Hugo asked

"How can you when you were never here… you were at that flying derby training camp." Axel reminded Hugo

"I remember…" Hugo sighed

"So why are you waiting for Princess Lei-Lani?"

"It's a long story, you see—" James was suddenly cut off

"It's Lei-Lani! She's here!" Amber yelled

"Sofia!" Lani was waving to them as she was sailing towards the pier

"Lani!" Sofia waved back

"Oh, Sofia. It's been such a long time!" Lani hugged Sofia

"Yeah, it's great to see you again." Sofia said

"Prince James, Princess Amber." Lani bowed to them

"Princess Lei-Lani…" James and Amber curtsied

"What do you need to go to Avalor for Sofia?" Lani asked

"Umm… you see yesterday while we were racing on flying derby, someone put a curse on me called Blackthorn curse."

"That's one of the ancient curses of Avalor." Lani gasped

"Yes, and now we have to go to Avalor and find the cure."

"Princess Cynthia, the princess of Avalor, told us to go to Hakalo so we can use the passage there to go to Avalor." James said

"I see, so that means you haven't got much time."

"Princess Cynthia casted a spell to slower the process which gave us a month."

"Then we better leave now!" Lani said "Who will be joining us anyway?"

"Oh let me introduce you, this is Prince Hugo of Sagax…" Sofia pulled Hugo

"So you're the young prince of Sagax, I've heard so much about you from your brother, Axel."

"Uh, thanks?"

"This is Hildegard of Friezenburg, one of my best friends Amber introduced

"The sister of Axel's wife, I presume?"

"Yes…"

"Princess Clio of Corinthia my other best friend"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Princess Lei-Lani." Clio curtsied

"And to you too…"

"Hey, Lani, this is my best buddy, Prince Zandar of Tangu." James said

"Oh, Tangu. My parents loved that place, they used to tell me about the great things there, one that I was certainly interested in was the flying carpets."

"Thank you, you can visit some time and I could teach you how to ride one." Zanda suggested

"I'd be happy to." Lani smiled with a tint of blush on her cheeks

"Ah! Hmph!" Hildegard crossed her arms and turned around

"What's the matter Hildy?" Amber worriedly asked

"Oh nothing." Hildegard answered with a bit of anger

"Are you sure?" Amber asked again

"Yes, don't worry about me Amber."

"Oh, Lani. This is Princess Vivian of Zumaria, she's one of my best friends in the academy." Sofia pushed the shy princess towards Lani

"H-hello." Vivian looked to the ground

"Uh… hi." Lani looked at Sofia with a confused look

"She's just a bit shy…" Sofia whispered

"Oh, well that's alright. You just need some getting used to." Lani smiled

"Well that's everyone…" James said

"Hop on board then. Good thing I brought a large ship…"

* * *

The princesses and princes went to the ship along with their things. Everyone else were waving to them. They left Minimus and the others in Sagax since they can't bring them with them.

"Come on I'll show you where you'll stay. Since we left early we should be able to get there first thing tomorrow." Lani said

"That's good to hear."

Later that night, they were all resting in their rooms. Since it not exactly a floating palace, all the princesses had to share a room, and the princes in another room.

* * *

"Curses! If they reach Hakalo tomorrow everything that was planned will all be ruined!" The mysterious person yelled

"I'll just have to delay their arrival then…" the person grabbed a book and started to look for a spell. "Here it is, they won't know what hit them." The person laughed in an evil tone

* * *

Suddenly the boat started to make unusual movements. It woke everyone up.

"What's happening?!" Amber cried

"I'll go check!" Sofia said

"I'm going with you." Lani yelled

They went upstairs and a strong wind tried to push them back in. Sofia and Lani held on to the ropes to keep them from falling. They saw James, Hugo, and Zandar.

"James! What's going on?!" Sofia yelled

"Apparently a big storm suddenly came. Now we're trying to control the ship." James replied as he tried to pull the controls

"But the storm is too strong, if this keeps up we're going straight to that whirlpool!" Hugo screamed

"What?!" Sofia yelled

"Oh no…" Lani said

A large wave appeared and was about to hit their ship.

"Ahhh!" they all screamed

"Sofia!" James grabbed Sofia's arm and pulled her to him.

Hugo and Zandar grabbed Lani. They all held on to the ropes around the pole. When the wave passed through them, the controls broke and they were headed straight to the whirlpool.

"That's it, break that ship into a million pieces, but not too much that it will kill them all. I still want them to all suffer!"

"Hurry we have to get everyone out of here!" James yelled

They all went down to the rooms. Sofia and Lani went to the Amber and the others in their room while James, Hugo, and Zandar went to their room to get their things.

"Amber! You all need to get your things cause we have to get leave this ship." Sofia ordered

"What?!" Amber shrieked

"Just do it!"

They all hurried and got their bags. They immediately went out to meet up with James and the others who already went outside to untie a small boat.

"Hurry up! Sofia, you and the girls get on the boat while we drop it and don't worry we'll jump as soon as you are all there." James said and held both of Sofia's shoulders.

"Okay…" Sofia nodded

The princesses got on the boat while the princes tried to carefully drop it. Suddenly a lightning bolt had stuck the ship which caused it to burn and fire quickly spread around it. James, Hugo, and Zandar quickly jumped off the ship and to the water. They swam hard to reach the boat. Sofia and the others spotted them and reached out their hands to help them get on.

"Are you guys alright?" Sofia asked

"Yeah, we're fine." James replied

Hugo just smiled and gave Sofia a thumbs up as his reply, while Zandar just chuckled and tried to catch his breath.

They watched as their ship got destroyed into pieces in the whirlpool and sank to the bottom of the ocean.

* * *

**A/N**

**So I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. For a little bit of spoilers: there will be a lot of drama in the next chapters and James/Sofia moments. I'd really like to hear your reviews, comments, opinions, suggestions, etc.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**

**Hey everyone sorry for the wait. **

**So I read a certain review from sugar sprinkles asking: ****Does sofia love or at least like james or think more of him then a step brother or a friend. **

**I was going to do that in later chapters since I have already finished my draft but then I thought about it and it did seem kinda unfair James was the only one showing, so I decided to move the development of Sofia's feeling earlier than originally planned but only a few short hints.**

**I don't own any of the songs that are going to show, I only changed the lyrics but the rest is not. I'm not really a songwriter nor a poet so it's not really good, so please don't judge.**

**And also I know you are all wondering who the mysterious villain is but I'm afraid I won't tell who it is yet but you 'll all find out who it is in a few more chapters. **

**Well I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Sofia slowly opened her eyes. The surroundings were blurred a bit but slowly becoming clearer. She looked around and noticed that she was at a beach. She noticed that there was someone beside her. It was James and Amber who were asleep. She turned and saw Vivian, Lani, and Hugo.

"_Where are—"_

James started to wake up. "James…" Sofia said

"S-Sofia, where are we?"

"I don't know but I can't see Zandar, Hildegard, and Clio."

"Wait what?!" James stood up. "Let's wake the others up so we can search for them."

Sofia nodded. "Amber, Amber, wake up." She shook Amber

"A few more minutes..." Amber mumbled

"Amber!" Sofia yelled

"What?!" Amber was startled and immediately sat up. She looked around "Where?"

"We don't know yet but help us wake the others up, we have to search for Zandar, Hildegard, and Clio."

"They're missing?!"

"Yes…"

"Hugo! Wake up!" Amber smacked Hugo with her bag

"Ow! What the heck Amber?!" Hugo woke up and saw Amber sobbing. "What's wrong?"

"Hildegard and Clio are missing… w-what if?"

"Hey! Don't think like that Amber. They're fine! Now instead of crying we should go and move to search for them already." James shouted

"…"

"I hate to admit this but James is right we should go now and search for them." Hugo smiled

Amber nodded while wiping her tears away.

"Vivian." Sofia started to wake Vivian up

"Hmm… Sofia?" Vivian yawned and rubbed her eyes

"Lani!" James woke Lani up

"Urgh, my head hurts…"

"That's probably just because of the impact of the crash. It should wear off eventually."

"Where are Zandar and the others?"

"That's the reason why we have to move fast to look for them, apparently they didn't land on the same spot we're on but they have to be somewhere on this island."

* * *

Meanwhile on another part of the beach,

Zandar opened his eyes and saw a very unfamiliar place. He saw a forest that was a few feet away from the shore. The place was filled with clear golden sand. He looked around and noticed that James and the others were not there, except for Clio. He started to shake Clio to wake her up.

"Clio… Clio!"

"Umm… Zandar?" Clio sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Where are we?"

"I don't know yet, but I can't see the others anywhere."

"Oh no…"

"Come on and get up already, we have to—" Zandar was cut off when he heard someone yell

"Help! Help!" a weak and familiar voice cried

"Wait that sounded like… Hildegard!" Zandar gasped and quickly ran towards where the voice was coming from.

They spotted Hildegard who was lying helpless on the sand and immediately ran to aid her.

"Hildegard!"

"Hildy!"

"Clio! Zandar! Thank goodness…" Hildergard sighed with relief

"Hildegard what happened? Are you alright?!" Zandar said with worry as kneeled beside Hildegard to help her up

"Hildy…"

"I— I don't know… but ow— my leg… it hurts…" Hildegard cried

"Let me have a look…" Zandar let her lie down and lean on the rock. Clio held both of Hildegard's shoulders to support her. Zandar carefully rolled Hildegard's pants up and saw her ankle had swollen up a bit.

"Is it bad?"

"It seems that you sprained your ankle but I don't think it's that serious though you shouldn't walk too much until we're sure. I don't think you broke any bones. I'll check the other… it looks fine. Now hold still, I have to aid this one first." Zandar tore one of his sleeves and gently used it to treat her ankle.

"What are you doing?! Those are expensive, they were made with the finest silk from your kingdom… how could you—?" Hildegard gasped

"Because you— this is more important than some cloth, this cloth can be replaced… but you can't." Zandar whispered the last part as he looked directly into Hildegard's with a serious look. "There it's done…"

"Hildy can you stand?" Clio asked

Hildegard nodded weakly and tried to stand. Clio grabbed her arm to help her. Hildegard started to shake and fall down but Zandar managed to catch her.

"Do you want me to carry—" Zandar asked

"N-no! I-I mean, I'm fine… I can do this." Hildegard shook her head

"Okay." Zandar grabbed her arm and put it around his neck. And Clio held on to her other arm. "Come on we have to find the others."

"I hope they're alright…"

* * *

"Now where are we?" Amber looked around there forest they're in

"It feels like we've been walking in circles! James, Hugo are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Uh of course!"

"Hey haven't we passed this tree before?" Vivian asked

"Huh? No way… how can you be so sure?"

"Well, I noticed it has the same nest with blue birds in it…"

"Urgh! It's official: **We Are Lost!**" Amber yelled

Suddenly they heard something snap, and the bushes started to rustle.

"Ahh! What's that?!" Amber cried as she hid behind Sofia

"Oh Amber it's probably just some poor animal or nothing at all…" Sofia said

It started to move again. James and Hugo draw their swords out. Lani and Vivian went behind them as they wait for it to come out.

"Ahh!" they screamed

"Hey! Whoa! James?!" Zandar shouted as James almost hit him but luckily he was able to stop as he realized who it was.

"Zandar?!"

"Oh my gosh! Clio! Hildegard!" Amber immediately ran towards her friends and hugged them

"Amber!" Clio and Hildegard said

"Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you…"

"Well, we went looking for you guys."

"Hildegard what happened?" Amber gasped as she saw her best friend's injured leg

"Oh, I sort of sprained my ankle but don't worry…" Hildegard smiled

"Looks like we all here… but it's getting late so we should set camp by the beach." James said.

"Okay."

"Hildegard can you still walk?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

Hugo and Lani started to make a tent big enough to at least keep them safe for the rest of the night. Vivian and Clio went to the forest to get some food while James, Amber, and Sofia gathered some firewood. Hildegard was resting near the campsite and Zandar was taking care of her.

"And now we're done!" Hugo said as he finished making the tent

"Yeah, finally!" Lani sighed

"There that should last until tomorrow morning…" Sofia said as she and the others set some wood for the fire. "Wow the tent looks great!"

"Yeah it is! Great job you two." Amber clapped her hands

"Umm, thanks."

Amber sighed and raised her hands by the fire for warmth. "What are we going to do now?" she asked

"Don't worry, I still have the Emerald key, we can still get to Hakalo, though it might take some time…" Lani said

"Don't worry about it Amber and just get some rest." James said

"Hey, we're back. We found tons of berries and fruits in the forest." Vivian said as she carefully dropped the food to the ground

"At least we now have some breakfast for tomorrow…" Clio smiled

"Hildegard, how are you doing there?" Amber asked

"Are you feeling better now?" Clio asked

"It's fine, hurts a bit but I can manage so don't worry so much." Hildegard replied

"Here, let's fix the bandage…" Zandar said

"Okay…" Hildegard smiled

"…" Lani frowned as she saw this and went away

"Lani, where are you going?" Sofia asked

"I'll just… umm… try to find a path for us with the Emerald key. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

"Okay then…"

* * *

Lani went deep into the forest. She started to climb a tree to relieve some stress out of her. When she reached the top, she looked up to the stars and saw billions of stars shining above her. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. She sat down on the tree and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"Why?" she asked to herself

Lani was felt really jealous of Hildegard. She finally found someone she likes yet another is getting all the attention. But she's not one to give up without a fight. She was determined to get Zandar to like her too.

She finally wiped her tears and put on a face with great courage in her heart. She went back to the campsite. When she returned almost everyone were already asleep. She let out a yawn and realized how tired she was.

"Oh hey Lani!" Sofia said

"Hey Sofia. I'm pretty tired so I'll go to sleep now."

"Ok, sweet dreams then…"

"Aren't you going to sleep too Sofia?"

"Yeah, but I'll just stay up for a while."

"Okay…" Lani went inside the tent and quickly fell asleep

* * *

"Hey Sof. Couldn't sleep?" James asked sitting beside Sofia

"Oh, James. Yeah sort of"

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine actually though that just means that the curse is working… I can't feel the pain." Sofia frowned

"Sofia, I promise that we'll find a way to cure this… I will do anything to save you." James looked at the flower on Sofia's arm and noticed that a very small shade of darkness was showed at the edge of the petals.

Suddenly Sofia felt her heart beat fast and loud for a while. She wondered for a moment why it happened but just decided to ignore it since it's not beating so loud anymore. "T-thank you James."

"Huh? For what Sof?"

"For everything… you're always there to help me… even now."

"Of course, I'd help you… you're my sister after all." James felt deeply hurt by his own words

'Sister'. All of a sudden Sofia felt a sharp pain when she heard that word. _"Huh? What's with this pain I'm feeling? Could it be the curse? But it said that I wasn't going to feel anything so why?_

"Sof?"

"Uh yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine just a bit tired I guess."

"You should probably get some sleep now."

"Okay… I will."

"Sleep well Sofia, we still have a big day tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning everyone got up and ate their breakfast before starting their adventure to the forest. Afterward, they all cleaned up and prepared their things.

"Here Hildy, you'll need this…" Clio and Amber handed Hildegard a long wood for her to use as a support for walking

"Thanks you guys…" Hildergard took the wood and tried to stand "At least now, I wouldn't be a burden."

"Oh Hildy, of course not. I am truly grateful that you are here to help me and my sister." Amber place a hand on Hildegard's shoulder

"Thanks…"

"Hey Amber!" James yelled

"What is it James?" Amber asked with an annoyed look

"Have you seen Sofia?"

"Sofia? I think I saw her with Lani. They were looking for a path to get off this place. They're over by the boat that we used before."

"Okay, thanks!" James quickly ran away

"Don't you think he's kinda weird?" Hildegard asked

"James has always been the odd twin, but what do you mean by that?" Amber asked

"I mean look, I know James has always been the overprotective brother towards Sofia and I would do the same to you guys if you were cursed but don't you think that James is well a bit **over**-overproctective one." Hildegard said

"I know right… I mean his actions and the way he treats Sofia are so different from the way he treats us. He's always been the gentleman but when it comes to Sofia, his behavior towards her is kinda special and sometimes it's not even something normal siblings do." Clio said

"What?" Amber became confused but can apparently relate to what her best friends were saying

"Well, you know… like James often gives gifts to Sofia even if it wasn't her birthday or Wassailia."

"Yeah and James always helps her out like he always pulls the chair for her and always help her carry her books, and everytime Sofia said she doesn't understand something in the lesson, James immediately 'ran' to her to help her study."

"And how James always seems to be with Sofia or at least be in the same room as her wherever she is and his top priority always seems to be her."

"Aaannnddd of course his actions towards Hugo…" Clio giggled

"True, though they've always been rivals so they always fight. But that doesn't excuse him from his actions with every boy who comes close to Sofia to try to court her, well except of course Zandar and Prince Desmond, we all know who he likes…" Hildegard pointed at Vivian who was busy clearing the tent with Zandar and Hugo.

"Yeah, but ridiculous how they don't know that they have feelings for each other as well as they didn't even notice that the whole school knows about them. Some were actually making bets on when they are going to get together." the girls laughed

"Well James did seem to act stranger since Sofia became our stepsister…"

"What? You think James actually likes Sofia, you know like more than a sister?" Hildegard and Clio giggled

Amber started to laugh with them. "Yeah right, impossible!"

"_It's impossible, right? I mean James liking Sofia. I admit that I've noticed he's been acting strange though I just decided to ignore it cause I might be the only thinking it but now that others have noticed it too… could it be…"_

* * *

Sofia and Lani were at the boat that was destroyed to look for a map or any navigation material.

"Hey Sofia, did you find the map yet?" Lani asked

"No… wait. I think I found it." Sofia started to dig through the sand. "It's here!"

"Great!"

Sofia spread the map open to the ground. "So what now?"

"Hmm, now we just have to know where we are and I can use the Emerald key to direct us."

"Well, we came from Sagax which is here… then we headed south so…"

The two princesses thought about it for several minutes but couldn't come up with an answer. Neither of them knew how to navigate such things. They were thinking so hard their minds were about to explode. They were about to give for today until a certain prince came.

"Hey Sof!" James called

"Oh hey James, is there something wrong?"

"No, I was just seeing how things are doing…"

"Well, right now we're sort of stuck right now."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, we have a map and everything but we still can figure out where we are now."

"Hmm let's see… the sun seems to rise over those mountains and by the looks of the waves that drifted us here last night from Sagax and I've also looked around using my spyglass to see any island near us so we should be here." James pointed on a small island on the map

"Great job, James. Let's hope you're right, but even if you aren't at least we're able to narrow down the location, now I'll just have to use the Emerald key to guide us." Lani said

"Brilliant. I'll go call the others." James stood up and went back to the campsite along with Sofia

"Alright, I'll call you when everything's ready."

"Okay."

"Wow James. That was amazing, how did know all that?"

"Well, I sort of studied a few of them just to add a bit of knowledge to my king lessons."

"You're really taking the royal duties very seriously huh…"

"Of course I am, cause I want to be a great king one day just like you said before to me Sof."

Sofia giggled. "You'll be a great king, your own way."

"I know. I'm gonna be my own king." James sang the last part

Sofia giggled. "You're gonna be your own king." She sang along

The two laughed and headed back to their friends.

* * *

"Okay, guys I already know where we have to go so let's get moving and just follow me." Lani ordered them

"So where are we going?" Hugo asked

"We have go over those mountains." Lani replied

"So we'll go around the island and—"

"No, that will take too long… we have to go through the forest."

"What?! But we don't know what's in there… there could be a wild and dangerous animal in there or a poisonous plant or something." Amber said

"Well that just have to be a risk we'll have to take."

* * *

"Where are we?" Sofia asked as she move some plants out of the way

"We've been walking for hours. Are you sure we're not lost… **again**?" Amber yelled from behind

"Don't worry, the Emerald key is guiding us so we're gonna be fine."

The group kept walking deeper and deeper into the forest. Suddenly some plants started to move which surprised them.

"What was that?" Sofia asked

James and Hugo draw their swords out. Sofia and the others stayed close to each other behind them. They slowly started to walk away then something appeared from the shadows. It became clearer as it stepped into the sunlight. The princes' and princesses' eyes widened with shock and fear as they saw a leopard appear.

"Wait… maybe I could talk to it." Sofia said

"I don't know Sofia. I don't think it wants to talk." Amber said

'You should listen to the little blond, it just might be the last thing you'll ever hear." the leopard chuckled

"Uh, I think you're right on that one Amber."

"Everyone, you should all run as fast as you can while Hugo and I distract it. Zandar, you carry Hildegard and Lani lead them somewhere safe." James whispered

"But what about you two?"

"Don't worry, we'll catch up with you." Hugo said

"Ready?" James asked

"Uh huh…" Sofia and the others nodded

"One… two… three!" James and Hugo quickly attacked the wild animal while the others quickly ran away

James and Hugo manage to place a few wounds on the leopard. They hit its paws to slow it down a bit and they immediately ran to catch up with the others.

* * *

"Is it… gone?" Amber asked

"Where are James and Hugo?" Sofia asked

"Look here they come!" Vivian said

"James! Hugo!"

"**RUN!**" James and Hugo screamed as they kept running fast towards them

"Aaahhh" They yelled when they saw that the leopard was behind them

"Oh no it's catching up!" Hildegard cried

"Ah!" Sofia suddenly tripped and her foot was stuck on the tree

"Sofia!" James yelled and he ran back to help her. "I can't get it off."

They saw the leopard getting closer, fast.

"What do we do?" Sofia said

Her amulet started to glow. Then a strange man just fell from the sky. He chopped the wood with a dagger. Then he grabbed Sofia and James and pulled the vine which immediately pulled them up to the tree.

"Whoa!" Sofia and James shouted

Sofia and James were gently landed on the tree. They saw a strange man and a woman wearing worn out clothes. The two held Sofia's and James's hands and pulled them to swing with the vines.

"What just— whoa!" Amber and the others were also pulled up to the tree.

When they were on top, they saw a pack of gorillas with them.

"Ah! What—? W-who— Ah!" The gorillas grabbed them and they were soon swinging away by them using the vines and some were sliding through the trees to get away from the leopard.

As soon as they were far away from the leopard, they landed on a secluded area.

"Thank you so much for helping us back there." Sofia said to them

"Well, you are very welcome Princess Sofia." the lady said with a British accent

"Wait how did you know Sofia? Who are you anyway?" James asked

"And what's with the monkeys?" Amber asked

"They are gorillas. They are my family and they don't like it when people call them that." the man said

Amber looked at the gorrilas who were glaring at her.

"Oh! T-then I apologize. I'm not really mush an expert in animals."

"So back to my question, who are you?" James asked again

"Well my name is Jane."

"And mine is Tarzan."

"We were summoned by the amulet to help you out of the jungle."

"Really? Are you a princess?" Sofia asked

"No, I am not."

"Then how? I thought it can only summon princesses?"

"Well apparently, it's a lot stronger than it looks. But princess is close enough. You see Tarzan is sort of a king…"

"Tarzan, King of the Jungle." Tarzan said

"So as his wife I guess you could say I'm sort of a queen, but you summoned the both of us to help you." Jane said

"Oh I see."

"Where are you headed? We can guide you there." Tarzan said

"We are going to Hakalo and to get there we have to head to over that mountain."

"Ooh that's going to be though, since this is the jungle after all. You know, with lots of dangerous and wild animals not just the leopard, that was only the start, and there are also lots of poisonous plants here and most probably insects." Jane said

"See, I told you so." Amber said

"But no worries, Tarzan is here." Jane smiled

"You have to be brave to get through this." Tarzan said with a serious tone, "And you have to work together."

The princes and princesses, along with Tarzan and Jane stated to go deeper to the jungle towards the mountain.

**(A/N this is "You'll Be In My Heart". I changed the lyrics of verse 1, then the bridge, then the chorus. You decide who sings Jane, Tarzan, or both)**

'_I know you are scared now to be alone_

_You need your friends to fight as one_

_And withstand everything you're going through_

_You need to be brave enough'_

They went through a path with lots of bugs, which Amber, Hildegard, and Clio really really really disliked. Amber grabbed her fan and fluttered it, making the insects go away and the others did the same.

'_When destiny calls you, you must be strong_

_They may not be with you, but you've got to hold on_

_They'll see in time, I know_

_You'll show them together'_

They went up a cliff with a very very small path that only a foot fitted so they had to walk sideways. They were slow and very careful when they walked since the ground wasn't stable and could collapse any minute. Some almost slipped and fell but they manage to catch one another in time.

'_Cause you'll be in their hearts_

_And you will fight as one_

_They'll be there from this day on_

_Now and forever more'_

It was already night so they decided to rest and start again tomorrow. They set up camp. They gathered some wood and started the fire.

Sofia sat by the fire and kept herself warm. "What a long day…" she sighed

Hugo grabbed a cloak and walked towards Sofia to give it to her, "Hey Sof—" he stopped when he saw James going to her and already placing a cloak over her shoulders. "Urgh, dammit…" Hugo was jealous and furious that he walked away

Amber was talking with Hildegard and Clio when she saw Hugo walking away.

"Ladies, excuse me for a minute…" Amber stood up

"Hmm? Okay."

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'll um just take a stroll." Amber replied and quickly followed Hugo

* * *

Hugo was walking by the shore kicking every rock and shells on the way. He took a deep breath and sighed. He stopped and was just looking at the wet sand and watched the seawater flow back and forth. He sat down staring the sea.

"Dammit, why do we always have to be interrupted? Maybe my brother's right… I couldn't even bring the courage to go and ask out the girl I like." Hugo covered his face with his hands and let his back fall to the ground

"Hugo?"

"Wha-? Amber?" Hugo immediately sat up wishing that Amber didn't see his pathetic state

"What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?" Amber sat beside Hugo

"N-nothing, I-I was just umm, strolling down the beach, what are you doing here?"

"I followed you because I was worried about you. You seemed a bit unhappy and sort of angry earlier."

"No, it's nothing. I was just— wait you're worried about me?" Hugo teasingly grinned

"W-well… I-I just didn't want another one to take care of and carry along the way in case you were injured as well." Amber looked away hiding her blushing face

"Right…" Hugo chuckled

"Hey, you're changing the subject!"

"Man, you sure got a lot smarter over the past years."

"Hey are you saying that I wasn't smart before?" Amber glared at him

"No, of course not. I never questioned the wise and intelligent Princess Amber." Hugo sarcastically said

"Well good. And since I'm wise and intelligent… tell be what were you doing here and why."

"Damn…" Hugo mumbled

"Oh ho, you thought you could escape that one huh. Spill."

"I-I can't."

"Oh come on Hugo, you can tell me… we're friends you know."

"What? Us? Friends?"

"Of course we are, and so is everyone. We're all friends here."

"Really? **All **of us?" Hugo stared at Amber's eyes

"Okay, maybe except James and maybe also Zandar but I think he's cool with you and he's only on James side cause he's his best friend after all. But other than those, we're friends."

Hugo laughed, "Thanks…"

"So what is it? What's your problem?"

Hugo sighed. _"Should I tell her? I mean she's her sister after all… who knows, maybe she can actually help me. And besides she's not going to stop until I tell her."_

"Um, hello? Hugo?"

"Okay, I'll tell you… the truth is… there is someone that I like."

"Oh…" Amber's heart suddenly sunk. _"Hugo likes someone? Who could it be? I feel as if I'm about to cry… no, no, no, don't." _Amber tried to calm down and not show her emotions

"I've liked her for a long time now… at first we didn't get along at all though I admit that most of it was my fault. You know ever since I became a jerk at the derby tryouts, everyone began avoiding be and probably hated me and even I hated myself too a bit. I thought that I'd hate her for the rest of my life and that she feels the same, but she did the exact opposite. Everyday she'd try and try to be actually friends with me and show everyone the good side of me. She, of all the people I know, she was the last person who I thought would actually give me a chance to redeem myself. And when I took that chance, I became a new man, a better person. I owe her a lot and somehow I found myself falling in love with her."

"She sounds like a wonderful girl, and she's lucky that she has someone who feels that way for her. Who is she? Is she someone whom I know?"

Hugo nodded. "Yes, very much."

"_Who? Could it be Hildy? Clio? Vivian? Lani? No, Hildy and Clio never came close to Hugo after what happened at the tryouts. Vivian couldn't possibly, she's too shy and not that brave to face the Hugo from that time. And obviously not Lani since they only officially met a few days ago. Who else? It must be someone from RPA… Jun? Maya? Leena? Could it be… no, it couldn't possibly be but she's the only one I know who actually got close to Hugo and helped him so it's highly possible."_

"Could it be S-Sofia?"

Amber saw Hugo's whole face reddened so bright that it was so noticeable even in the dark night and only the moon to light it up.

"Y-yeah… the person I'm in love with is Sofia…"

* * *

**A/N**

**Dun dun duuunnn. Hahahaa. And now the drama starts.**

**Sorry I had to end this chapter, it was already long. But don't worry I'm already writing the next story so expect it in about 2-3 days. And apparently this story isn't going to end soon cause I just had to write and give Sofia a whole month to live so it will be a looong story. Probably about 15 chapters or so cause ideas just kept flowing through my mind. **

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, please write your reviews, comments, or suggestions. I'll be very glad to read them and maybe answer some questions in the next chapter, well maybe not any spoilers. Please don't flame cause I'm still a beginner at this, if there are any problems please tell them in a direct but nice way. Thank you.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Could it be S-Sofia?" Amber nervously asked hoping that she was wrong

But when she saw Hugo blush, she already knew the answer.

"Y-yeah… the person I'm in love with is Sofia…"

This crushed Amber even more to face the fact that the love of her life is in love with her own sister. She was angry and jealous but most of all, heartbroken. She had really envied Sofia for a long time, the fact that Sofia became more popular, smarter, and more beautiful. She was the co-captain of the flying derby team and she excelled in all subjects, including arts, and dance classes, even in the magic class. But even after all these years her kindness never disappeared and Amber could never bring herself to be angry at her and at times she was even proud of her sister. She never got angry or let her jealousy harm her again, even now. Even though the person she loves the most is in love with her sister, she couldn't do anything bad to either of them because she loves them both so much.

"Wow, that's… amazing! Who would've thought?"

"Amber, please don't tell anyone about this. You're one of the very few people I told about this. I trust you to keep this a secret."

"Who are the other people you told this secret of yours."

"Um, my brother and his wife, and I think father knows it too."

"I see. I promise I'll keep this a secret, you can trust me on this one. I know! I'll try to do something to get you a chance to talk to her and confess your feelings." Amber clapped her hands together

"What?! No, Amber! Please, I really don't want Sofia to know. I plan on telling her myself… someday…"

"Someday? And when exactly is that someday, hmm?"

"Well I—"

"See? Don't worry, I won't tell her. I will just set a plan to get the two of you alone together to talk and you can tell your feeling to her yourself."

"Really? Thanks, Amber. I've been actually trying to talk to her for a while but we always seem to be interrupted by something…" Hugo shyly chuckled _"Though it's actually a very very annoying __**someone."**_

"Don't worry. You came to the right person. Good thing you came to the right person. I mean, I've been matchmaking people for years now and I don't want to brag but I think I'm already an expert on this." Amber giggled. She just kept on smiling though deep inside she's crying.

"No need to worry, Hugo. I can assure you that you'll be together with the love of your life in no time."

"Thank you, Amber. You're the greatest friend a guy could ever have." Hugo hugged Amber tightly showing his happiness and excitement

"Of course… that's what friends… are for." Amber slowly pushed Hugo away and patted his shoulders, "I'll be going first. If we go back together, the others might suspect something and by others I meant Sofia."

"Okay, I really appreciate this, Amber. I owe you one." Hugo grinned

"I'll see you later…" Amber smiled at Hugo before walking away.

As Amber was walking back to the campsite, she started crying. She held her chest tightly telling herself to be strong.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the campsite,

"So how are you feeling Sof?" James asked

"I'm fine… I kinda miss home though."

"Yeah I know…"

"Why did this have to happen? Who would even do such a thing?"

"I don't know but I think we're going to find out who did this to you and I'll definitely make sure that person will pay for this. And after this is all over we can finally return to the castle and we can go back to how everything was like before."

"I miss Mom and Dad. I miss hanging out with Ruby, Jade, and Lucinda. I miss going to Royal Senior High Academy. I miss the fun times we always had together when we were kids. Why couldn't things just stay the same?" Tears were forming in Sofia's eyes

"I miss our friends too Sof. It's odd to not play around like we used to do but we all have to go through these changes but that doesn't mean that we can't do the things we used to do when we were kids anymore. I'm about to become king in two years and I've been trying to learn so hard but in the end, I'm still James. The James who likes to play around all day, is the captain of the flying derby team, always tries to find time to spend with his family. And you will always be the Sofia who we all know and love. The Sofia who is the truest princess I have ever met. And I'm lucky to have met you Sof." James hugged Sofia and rested her head on his shoulder

"Thank you James. You're always there for me whenever I was feeling down. You always know just what to say." Sofia wiped her eyes and smiled

They stared into each other's eyes for a while. Neither of them spoke. Their hearts were beating so loud and they didn't even notice nor hear the others talking. They felt as if they were to only people in the island.

"Sofia, I—"

Sofia snapped out of it and saw Amber return. But she noticed that something was not right about Amber. She knew that something was wrong.

"Amber!" Sofia quickly stood up and ran towards Amber

"Sofia? Wait—" James sighed _"What the heck was I about to say to her?! Was I going to say my feelings for her? We were just talking about going back to how things were after we finish this and if said that I love her then it will change everything. We can no longer go back."_

* * *

"Amber!" Sofia held Amber shoulder and turned her to face her. She saw how red

Amber's eyes were. "What happened?"

"It's nothing Sofia."

"Nothing?! Amber. Your eyes are bloodshot. Your face looks swollen as if you've been crying all day, how is that nothing?"

"I'm sorry Sofia… I really don't want to talk about it…"

"Amber, please tell me. Let me help you, Amber. I'm your sister."

Amber sighed and pulled Sofia to a place where no one can hear nor see them. She knew that if she didn't tell Sofia, she won't stop until she knows.

"What is it Amber?"

"You see I… have someone that… I like."

* * *

"Where the heck did Sofia and Amber run off to?" James got up and walked to find them

James spotted Hugo walking back to camp. Perhaps he knows where the girls went.

"Hugo!" James called

"James?" Hugo looked up and saw James running towards him

"Hugo have you seen Sofia and Amber?"

"N-no, I haven't." Hugo said _"Could it be that Amber's already starting her plan?"_

"Well, tell me if you see them but I guess you'd want to go back to the campsite." James started to walk away

"James." Hugo called and stopped James. "Can we talk?"

* * *

"What? Really? Why haven't you told me about this?"

"I have never told anyone about this, not even Hildegard nor Clio. I mean they are my best friends but I also know that they can't really keep secrets."

"Oh, so what is the problem?"

"The problem is that he likes someone else. And I promised him that I'd help her get together with this girl."

"What? Why?"

"Because I know who that girl is and she is a very close and dear… friend of mine. And I just couldn't hurt them both." Amber started crying

* * *

"So what did you want to talk about?" James asked Hugo

"Well, um… you and I have been rival for quite a long time and I think we should try and get along from now on. And possibly be friends like we used to be."

"Whoa, who are you? What did you do to Hugo?" James started laugh

"James, I am being serious here."

James coughed and stopped laughing after a while. "Okay so what was it again?"

"I want us actually put our differences aside and be friends, not best friends, but at least no longer rivals."

"Alright, what is it that you really want?"

"What? I just told you that I want us to be friends again or at least stop this pathetic rivalry."

"Yeah right, I know you Hugo. And I know that there has to be some kind of ulterior motive here."

"Urgh... fine."

* * *

"Oh Amber… does he even know you felt this way?"

"No."

"Then why don't you tell him? You love him don't you?" Sofia asked

"It's because I love him that I can't tell him! If I tell him, it would ruin our friendship. And besides he already said that he likes someone else. And if I really love him then I'd want him to be happy even if it means that he's going to end up with someone else. You wouldn't understand." Amber said

* * *

"Aha! I knew it. What is it then that you want from me?" James smiled and crossed his arms

Hugo sighed in defeat "You see there is this girl and I—"

"Wait, are you asking **me **for love advice?" James scoffed

"Yes— no, I umm. It's sort of like that." Hugo stuttered, completely confused as to what to say

"You should ask Amber about those matters instead of me." James chuckled raised his hand up to his face.

"I did— well." Hugo took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay let's just start back again. I have someone that I genuinely like."

"So do I know this unfortunate lady?"

Hugo took a deep breath once more and tried his best to not let the mockery get to him. "Yes. And I would like to have your consent to let me court her, as your sister had already given me."

James became completely confused "Huh? What do mean? Why do I have to give you my consent? And what do you mean my sister has already given her consent?"

"Because I like Sofia."

"What?"

* * *

"Yes there's that saying, but do also know that if you truly love someone then you'd have to fight for him and if in the end he doesn't change his mind then that the only time that you should be happy for him. That way you won't have any regrets because you know that you tried and did your best."

"Maybe. Thank you Sofia." Amber stopped crying and wiped her tears and hugged Sofia

"You're welcome. So who is he anyway?" Sofia asked

"I'm afraid I can't tell you right now but maybe someday you'll know." Amber giggled

"Fine, but promise me you'll tell me."

"I… promise."

* * *

_"What Hugo likes Sofia?Somehow I wasn't surprised. I always had a bad feeling about him, not just because he's been my rival for years. But to think that he actually likes Sof. And he dared to ask me to give him my consent about this. Even the other princes aren't as stupid to do this. And for a moment there I thought he was actually trying to be friends with me. Good thing I didn't lower my guard on him."_

"Earlier I have already talked to Amber and she was willing to support me and Sofia. And since I have decided to finally tell her my feelings for her... I just thought of telling you this. And since you are her brother, I thought that we should be friends now since I may be your brother-in-law in the future because I am planning of making Sofia my queen."

"No." James whispered. _"There's no way that I am going to give Sofia to anyone."_

"What did say? I didn't quite hear that."

"You asked for my consent and my answer is no."

"And why not?"

"Because Sofia is —"

"Sofia is what? Sofia is your sister. And besides there's nothing you can do about it if she feels the same way about me. And if any consent does matter, it will be your parents. King Roland and Queen Miranda really adore me even after what happened ten years ago, since Sofia and I became friends they have forgiven me already and I think they actually like me... like a son maybe. And I just want to make their wish come true. See? Everything fits perfectly. Amber supports me, your parents will be delighted and they will definitely not disagree on the matter of me going out with Sofia, and if Sofia likes me too... we will just live happily ever after. No one will ever argue or doubt this relationship, well maybe except you. They will all accept me and Sofia. I can make her queen of Sagax and she will be certainly happy there. And there's nothing you can do about it so why don't you just give in and support me... dear brother." Hugo smirked.

James couldn't say anything back. He didn't want to admit it but he knew that Hugo was right. It didn't matter if he pushes away every guy that comes to Sofia. It was still Sofia's decision. It was still her heart. He knew that if Sofia chooses to be with another guy then there's nothing he can do about it. He didn't have the right to do so because they are not lovers, they are only siblings. They're only brother and sister and that's all they ever will be.

"Oh and you don't have to protect her anymore because that will be my job from now on." Hugo patted James shoulder before walking back to camp leaving James alone.

* * *

The next day everyone got up and continued their expedition. They were walking for hours. They stopped at the cliff. Sofia looked down below and saw how deep it was and that the current of the river was too strong.

"What now?" Sofia asked "How are we going to get to the other side?"

"It's hopeless…" Amber sat down on a rock

"No, there has to be another way." James said

"Even if there is another path, how are we so sure there really is one and that it's safe. We could become lost." Hildegard said

"Well, we won't know unless we go and find out. We have to at least try." Sofia offered her hand to Amber

"Fine…" Amber took Sofia's hand and stood up

Suddenly they heard the rustling sound again.

"What was that?" Vivian asked

"I don't see anything." Sofia said

"Come on. We better move faster and catch up with the others." Vivian worriedly said

Sofia nodded and the they started to ran when all of a sudden the leopard jumped out of the bushes and attacked the girls. Sofia and Vivian screamed which caught the others' attention.

"Sofia! Vivian! Move!" James came running with his sword out and tried to hit the leopard but it easily dodged it.

"Again?!" Hugo came and used his sword to defend them.

The two princes continued to fight the beast while Sofia and Vivian ran to their friends. But the ground wasn't stable and Sofia slipped off the edge of the cliff. Hugo saw this and quickly ran to catch her but they both fell down. James immediately ran to help them and jumped off the cliff. The leopard followed them and jumped also.

"James!" Amber screamed as she ran towards the edge hoping to see them

They all looked down the river and search for them wishing that they managed to make it through. They all look for a few minutes almost feeling hopeless but Amber was determined to keep on searching, still believing in them.

"Look! It's James!" Amber pointed at the small figure wearing a green coat hanging onto the small tree branch at the side. She saw James pulling two others. "It's Sofia and Hugo! They're all safe." Amber let out a sigh in relief

James held on to Sofia, along with Hugo, and tried to find a way to reach the land. He saw a long vine around the branch and grabbed it. He spotted a small tree hanging from the cliff. He threw the vine around the tree and gently pulled it to make sure it's safe. James started to pull them out of the river and safely on the land. When they finally reached land, James grabbed Sofia and Hugo away from the river. He looked above and saw Amber and the others. He waved at them to tell them they're alright. James looked at Amber in the eyes and told her to meet them on the other side.

"Okay." Amber nodded to James. "Let's move. James said that we'll meet them at the other side of the cliff."

"Huh? When— how?" Zandar and the others were confused

"He is my twin, that's all there is to it." Amber smiled as continued to walk. "Let's go."

They nodded and followed Amber while James found a cave nearby and carried Sofia and Hugo inside. He grabbed a few wood and started to make a fire.

"Hmm…" Sofia mumbled

"Sofia? You're awake."

"James? Where?"

"We fell down the cliff but don't worry since we're already at the other side we just have to find a way to get back up there."

"Okay… thanks for saving us back there James."

"No problem Sof." James smiled

Sofia let out a soft sneeze and started to shiver from the cold.

"Here." James grabbed his coat that he was drying off and placed it around Sofia

"Thank you but what about you?"

"Don't worry about me , the fire is keeping me warm so it's alright." James smiled at Sofia which made her heart beat fast again.

"Uh huh."

"Are you alright Sof?" James asked

"Y-yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Your face seemed sort of red… are you catching a cold?" James placed his hand over Sofia's forehead

"I-I'm fine, James."

"Well you seem a bit warm but you don't seem to have a cold so I guess it's alright."

"Urgh…" Hugo groaned and started to wake up

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Did you enjoy you beauty rest?" James grinned while Sofia giggled

"Haha, very funny." Hugo rolled his eyes. "Where are we?"

"When we all decided to take a swim, I had to drag two princesses away from the river and carried you to this cave I found nearby. And now since you're all awake, let's get going and climb up this cliff."

"Who are you calling **princess?!" **Hugo snapped and tackled James and the two started to wrestle each other

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, James."

"Huh? What do you mean?" James stopped wrestling with Hugo

"I mean climbing up or going outside actually."

"Why?"

"I think a storm is coming and the river is rising. If we don't get out of here, we'll get trapped and drown."

"What?!" the two yelled

James looked outside and saw a huge storm cloud coming.

"Okay since we can't go out we'll just have to go through this cave then." James tore one of his shirt's sleeves and grabbed a long piece of wood. He wrapped the cloth around the tip of the wood and ignited it. "Let's go."

The three walked deeper and deeper into the dark cave, unknown what lies in there.

"Hey! Are you sure we're not going around in circles? We've been walking for a while now." Hugo said

"Yeah don't worry. I just need you to shut up so I can know where we're going."

"Huh?"

"I've been listening to the sound of the storm and so far we're getting far away from it and besides, I've been leaving traces of ashes so I can make sure that we're not lost."

"Whatever."

They suddenly heard a strange sound coming from behind them and apparently echoing in the cave.

"Did you hear that?" Sofia asked

"Yeah, what is it?" Hugo asked

"It sounds like… water and it's getting louder!" James said

They all turned around and saw the strong flow of water running towards them. They all gasped and immediately ran away. They kept on running that they didn't even notice they took different paths in the cave. Sofia kept on running and didn't see the hole below her and she fell.

"Aaahhh!" Sofia screamed as she went sliding down the hole

"Sof?!" James yelled

"Sofia?!" Hugo looked around and noticed that James wasn't with him also. He suddenly slipped and started to slide. "Whoa! Aaahhh!"

"Hugo?!" James heard Hugo scream. James followed where the sound was coming from. He saw a small hole and slid through it.

As James was sliding down, he saw Hugo sliding on another path and way ahead of him. He tried to slide down faster to somehow catch up with him. When their paths intersected, James was now beside Hugo.

"Hugo!"

"What the—?! James?!" Hugo was surprised to see James sliding beside him

"Have you seen Sofia?"

"No. Hey, how did you get here?"

"I heard your girly cry for help and I followed it. I jumped through a hole and here I am now."

"Oh… hey!" Hugo smacked James's head after realizing what he commented on him.

James burst out a loud laugh before turning serious "But seriously, I hope Sofia's alright…"

* * *

As Sofia was quickly sliding down a hole, the water was chasing after her. Sofia saw the light coming from the end of it. She fell down to a lake inside the cave. She immediately started to swim to reach the land and twisted her clothes and her hair to remove some of the water. She looked around and saw beautiful giant crystals all around the place. She looked around and noticed a giant crystal door.

"Wow!"

"Who's there?" an unfamiliar voice said

"…what?" Sofia whispered to herself

"I am asking you who you are and how did you get here?" the voice became louder and sounded angry that it slightly frightened the princess

"I-I am Princess Sofia of Enchancia and… well… we were on our way to Hakalo to go to Avalor when our ship sank and we got lost and apparently ended up here…"

The strange person stared at Sofia. He noticed the amulet around Sofia's neck and his eyes widened in surprise and disbelief.

"Could it possibly be?" he whispered

Then all of a sudden, the crystal door opened and revealed a man with neatly trimmed golden hair and silver colored eyes.

"Who?" Sofia walked a step backwards

"Please do not be frightened, I will not hurt you. I am Christopher and I am the guardian of the crystals in this cave." He offered his hand

"It's… nice to meet you Sir." Sofia took it and shook hands with him

"If I may ask, could this be the Amulet of Avalor?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"So the amulet has finally chosen a successor and earlier you said that you will be going to the kingdom of Avalor?" he smiled

"Yes, my friends and I were— oh no, James and Hugo! The three of us got separated when the water was running towards us. Can you please help me find them?"

"There is no need for you to worry Princess Sofia. All of the paths in the cave are connected to this place. They could arrive at any—"

"Whoa!" James and Hugo fell into the lake

"James! Hugo!" Sofia ran to help them get up

"Sofia?!"

"Are they alright?" Christopher asked

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Sofia, who is this?" Hugo asked

"Oh this is Christopher, he is apparently the guardian of this place."

"I am Prince Hugo of Sagax."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." they shook hands

"And I am Prince James of Enchancia."

"I see… it's a pleasure to meet you also Prince James."

"Sir Christopher, do you know a way out of this place?" James asked

"Of course I do but I won't tell you."

"Why not?" Sofia asked

"First you will need to past a certain test but I must warn you that many have tried but only few had succeeded and once you fail, you may never leave."

"Then what is this test?"

"Are you sure you are up for it?"

The three looked into each other's' eyes and nodded. "Yes." They answered

"Alright, first you'll need to find Ardebit and gain his trust. That is all you need to do and after you have done that, he will do the rest."

"Okay, so where is Ardebit?"

Christopher walked towards a wall of crystal on his right. He raised his hand and held the wall, his hands started to glow and the walls moved revealing a dark passageway.

"In here is a maze, at the end of it you shall find Ardebit though I must warn you that this is not an ordinary maze."

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't you find it out for yourselves?"

The three took deep breaths before walking inside the maze. When they stepped inside, the entrance was closed. They could only see darkness. Suddenly, one-by-one the torches hanging from the walls were lightened up. They saw that the walls were so high up probably about thrice their heights put together. The three were overwhelmed of the strange place but this didn't stop them from moving forward. They walked for a while and after the constant fighting of Hugo and James, they somehow managed to end up in the middle of the maze.

"Come on, let's go this way." James pointed to the right side

"No, let's go this way." Hugo pointed to the left side

"No, this way." James insisted

"We'll just get lost if we follow you like last time." Hugo argued

"Oh yeah? But wasn't it you who was leading us at that time?"

"Was not!"

"Was too."

"Hey! Why don't we try going to the path in front of us first?" Sofia suggested

"Fine!" the two princes said

They walked straight ahead and followed the path but they ended up in a dead end.

"Okay! Let's go back and go my path."

"No, mine!"

"Will you two just stop it?!" Sofia had enough of them fighting like little girls. "Okay why don't we just toss a coin then?" Sofia said

"Alright…" the two said and Sofia grabbed one coin in her pocket

"Head or tails?" Sofia tossed the coin and placed it at the back of her hand covering it with another hand

"Heads." Hugo said

"Guess, I'll be tails then." James said

"Oh aren't you a smart little boy?" Hugo teasingly ruffled James's hair

"It's heads." Sofia said

"Yes!" Hugo cheered

They walked to the left path but it also ended up being a dead end.

"What?!"

"Ha! I knew you were wrong, come on let's go to the **right** path." James smirked

"Urgh." Hugo growled

Then they walked to the last path, but to their surprise it was a dead end again. The three suddenly became completely confused and now unsure of what to do.

"What?! How could this be?" Sofia gasped

"This is impossible, how could all the paths be blocked?" Hugo asked

"Hey maybe we just went to the wrong path in the first place." James said

"No that can't be, we've checked remember?" Sofia said

"Yeah, but who knows maybe we missed someplace." Hugo said

"Wait, Christopher did say that this maze was not an ordinary maze." Sofia said

"So, what does it mean?" James asked

"I remember encountering a not-so-ordinary maze before, when we were in Wei-Ling and you and Jin were trapped by the jade jaguar and Amber, Jun and I had to rescue you."

"What?! James you were actually that dumb to fall for a trap and your own sisters had to come and rescue you? Man I wish I had been there to see your face." Hugo laughed

"That was a long time ago Hugo, we were kids back then. What's your point Sof?"

"Well, on our way to the cave, there was also a maze there and it was magical that the pieces tend to move and block us. And we had to go above to get pass it."

"Great but I don't think we can climb this wall though."

"But maybe the spell casted on this maze is similar. Maybe it was just moving to block us." Sofia said

"How do you suppose we get pass this?" James asked

"We split up."

James took the right side, Hugo took the left and Sofia took the one in front. They all walked at the same time. Hugo saw that his was open.

"Sofia! James! Over here!" he called his friends.

Sofia and James came running.

"You were right Sof! Brilliant!" James said

"Yeah." Sofia smiled

They saw the path was closing again.

"Hurry up you guys!" Hugo yelled from the other side

"Oh no, it's closing." Sofia gasped

"Not on my watch!" James drew out his sword and threw it in the space enough for them to slid pass.

"Did we make it?" Sofia asked as she was lying on the ground with her eyes were shut close

"Yes, yes we did." James said with his hand on his knees trying to catch his breath

"Yes!" They all cheered

"Whew, finally. Now let's go to Ardebit!" Sofia yelled

The trio continued their adventure through the maze with head held up high and their spirits ready to face the next challenge.

* * *

**A/N**

**Sorry for the late update. I've been really busy lately. And I had to cut this chapter it cause it was too long already. But I'll update as soon if possible tomorrow since I'm already half way through it. Please write reviews and etc.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**

**Sorry I posted this late. I know that I did say that I was going to post this 2 or 3 days ago and I was going to post it since I already finished it 2 days ago, but I figured you all might be angry if I didn't post the next chapter soon. So here it is now.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Hey, guys I think we're almost there." Sofia said

"How do you know?" Hugo asked

"Look above, the light coming from the exit is getting brighter. We must be near, hurry." Sofia immediately ran

"Sofia wait up!" The two chased after her

As they ran, the ground suddenly started to cave-in and Hugo started to fall. He managed to grab hold of the edge but his hands started to slip. He looked down below and saw the hot boiling lava.

"Hugo!" the Sofia and James yelled and came running towards him.

Then the land Hugo was gripping tightly collapsed and he was falling down. Hugo shut his eyes and prepared himself for the impact but it never came. He opened one of his eyes and saw that he was no longer falling. He blinked a few times and realized that he was completely still. He looked above and realized that James was grasping his wrist.

James started to pull Hugo up. Sofia was holding onto James to support him to not let him fall also. When Hugo was near the top, he used his free hand to grab the ground. Hugo lied down on the floor and started to cough. James leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath.

"Hugo, are you alright?" Sofia asked

"Yeah… I'm fine." Hugo looked at James. "Thanks." He said. James only nodded

"Let's go." James said and they continued walking

* * *

"Hmm… interesting…" a strange deep voice said

"What is it?" a man with golden hair and silver eyes asked

"Nothing… these kids just seem intriguing. This girl… she's the bearer of the Amulet of Avalor?"

"Yes. Just like what the queen said."

"I guess what my old man said was true, fascinating little princess isn't she."

* * *

"Hurry, the exit should be right around that corner."

"Finally." Hugo sighed in relief

When they turned, they all gasped as their faces almost turned pale and their eyes widened in shock.

"How could this be?" Sofia gasped

"What?!"

The last part of the maze was completely closed. A large wall was blocking the way. It doesn't look like it was going to move like the others. They looked around and saw that there was no other path to get through it. It was a giant stone wall, the only thing that's in the way for them to finally reach the end.

"I don't understand. It supposed to be here. There's supposed to be a gap, a path or anything between this for us to get through just like how a maze is supposed to be." James slammed his fist to the wall

"Maybe this isn't the exit." Hugo said

"No, this is the exit. The brightest light is coming from there. If that isn't the exit then the light should be on another side." Sofia said who was sitting against the wall, hugging her knees and covering her face. She realized that she was sitting on something hard and she moved herself and saw that she was sitting on a piece of gem. It was shaped like a diamond and it was red as fire and a ruby. She just stared at it for a while and admired its beauty.

"Don't worry Sof, we'll find a way. We always do." James patted her head as Sofia looked up and smiled

"Okay genius, have any ideas?" Hugo asked

"Come on guys, this maze is smart we just have to be smarter. Let's think of something, together. There has to be some trick or something to get through." James said

"We could climb—" Hugo said _"Must he always interrupt me?!"_

"Hello? If we could've climbed this wall don't you think we should've done it in the first place?" James said

"Hey I'm just saying a suggestion here. Cause I seriously have no idea."

"You? Seriously? You always have schemes and now you're telling us you've run out of it?" James laughed

"Hey people aren't always what they seem you know." Hugo yelled

James and Sofia suddenly raised their heads up and looked at each other with a wide smile on their face.

"James, you don't think—" Sofia stood up

"Yeah, Sof. I-I know—"

"Could it be?"

"It's possible. Let's try it."

"Huh? What are you two talking about?" Hugo asked confused about what they just said

"You take that side, I'll go with the other." James said and ran to the left corner

"Okay." Sofia nodded and ran to the other corner

"Hey! Can someone please explain what the heck is going on?" Hugo demanded

"Well Sofia and I had a hunch."

"You see back in Enchancia, I have a secret garden. It's located in a maze and no one else knows about it except me and James."

"Amber used to know before but she forgot over the years."

"And since a long time has already passed the door was covered with leaves which hid it."

"Even I was confused at first since I thought it was just another hedge but when Sofia removed some of the leaves, it revealed the door."

"So we thought that it might be possible-"

"That there might also be a secret door, the same as the maze in you kingdom." Hugo slammed his fist and palm together

"Well, let's get to work then." Sofia said

They all nodded and went to their positions. They began to search and groped the wall for any clue. They were knocking the wall to hear any different sound. This went on for less than an hour.

"Hey James?" Hugo said

"What is it?" James asked

"Why did you save me back then?"

"What? Why are you asking that?" James asked with a confused look in his face

"I mean, it's obvious that we seriously hate each other and even more after what happened the other day."

"Look, we may be rivals for a long time and we're always at each other's throats but I'm not that cold-hearted towards you to actually let you die." James chuckled

"Really?" Hugo raised his eyebrow and smirked at James in disbelief

"But just because I saved you it doesn't mean I'm going to let you have Sofia. I will never let it happen."

"Why are you so protective of her? James, Sofia is no longer a little girl. She's already old enough to make her own decisions in life. You know that sooner or later there will be someone who she will come to love and it will be her decision to go with him or not. It won't be your job to protect her when the time comes."

James faced Hugo with a serious look in his eyes without any emotion of anger or sadness "I know, but until then I will always be there for her and always by her side. I will be the one who will protect her."

"Why?"

"Because I love her." James said

"I understand that she's your sister but—" Hugo looked deep into James's eyes searching for an answer. "You couldn't be…" he whispered

"Hmm?" Sofia knocked on the wall and it made an unusual sound. "James! Hugo! Over here! I think I found it."

"Really?!" James came running towards Sofia. He passed Hugo who was just standing still with confusion in his face.

"Yup!"

James knocked on it. "Hey you're right."

"Okay we'll force it open." Hugo said and they positioned themselves,

"On three. 1… 2… 3!" They banged themselves on the door but it didn't open and they tried again but nothing happened

"No way." There wasn't even a scratch or mark.

"Urgh what now?"

"There has to be some kind of doorknob or lock in here somewhere."

"Hmm…" Sofia looked at the door for a while and noticed a strange line at the edge. She grabbed it with her fingers and tore it apart from the door. It was a wooden door that had metal as the border with different kinds of beautiful gem and in the middle it has a diamond-shaped hole in it as if it was missing a gem. Then Sofia remembered the gem she saw earlier. She searched her pockets and grabbed the gem. She carefully placed it on the hole. The door suddenly shined, and the light became brighter the light was reflected on the gems which made it even more beautiful. The ground started to shake and the giant door began to open.

The whole ground started to collapse. Sofia immediately entered the small opening on the door. When the gap was big enough, Hugo entered but James suddenly stumbled and was about to fall but Hugo caught him and pulled him inside.

"Thanks." James said

"Yeah, I guess we're even now huh…"

"Yeah, we are."

The light coming from the other side was too bright. They placed their hands in front of their eyes trying not to close them. When the door was fully opened, the ground had finally stopped shaking. The three slowly opened their eyes to see a beautiful room, completely filled with gems and crystals. Even the floor and wall was made of crystal. At each side of the room were large metal fire pits with flame-like designs placed in a row. In the middle of the room there was a giant red curtain covering another part of the room and in front of it is a large platform stage, just like in a throne room they have back in Enchancia.

"Whoa…" was the only thing that could escape from the young royals' mouths. They stood there in silent for a while until they heard someone clap.

"Congratulations, you've made it." Christopher appeared behind the curtains

"Wha-? Christopher?!" the three all yelled

"Hello." Christopher smiled

"Hey! What's the meaning of this?! Why are you here?" Hugo yelled

"And where is Ardebit?" James demanded

"Whoa, calm down." Christopher chuckled as he raised both of his hands in defense. "I went through the door I came from in the first place. Seriously, it was boring if I just waited back there so I went here to see the show."

"So you've been watching us the whole time?" Sofia asked

"Yes."

"You do know that I almost died back there. If they didn't save me I could've been toast and I meant literally." Hugo said

"But that's the point." Christopher said

"What? You wanted Hugo to die?"

"Of course not."

"That wasn't what he meant of course." Someone chuckled

"Who?"

A large man suddenly appeared. He had fire red hair that goes down to his waist and glowing green eyes and fair skin. He wore a black vest with a red dragon marking and black pants and shoes.

"I am Ardebit."

"You are…"

"Yes, and as Christopher said earlier: Congratulations on getting pass the maze."

"So you'll help us get out of this cave?"

"I said you passed the maze, I haven't said that you've passed **my **test. Don't you remember what Christopher said to you? You still have to earn my trust."

"How?"

"Wait. How can we be sure that we can trust you in the first place? You've been spying on us in the first place, trapping us, blocking our paths, even almost getting us killed."

"What a smart kid you are. Hugo means intelligence, right?" Ardebit chuckled. "You do have a point, we have been watching the three of you since you entered the maze to see if you truly are worthy and since we've seen a lot of your personalities… and secrets. Let me share you mine…" Ardebit started to raise both of his hands. He looked at Christopher to tell his to step back and he nodded.

Fire began to rise and grow. A dark red cloud appeared and slowly surrounded Ardebit. The fire also started to surround him and in a flash it was as if it exploded. A strong gust of wind hit the trio but Christopher came in front of them. He raised his arms to his front and made a crystal shield appear to protect them. When the explosion was over, the fire and the cloud surrounding Ardebit disappeared and revealed a dragon. A dragon had translucent dark red scales and on the end of its tail was a bladelike extension. He had gem-like eyes that were emerald colored. He had long, muscular limbs with two splayed digits on each foot that end in long claws. He had big fan-like wings running from his shoulders to his lower back.

"You're a… a dragon?"

"No, I'm a big lizard with wings." Ardebit jokingly said

"Sorry, it's just that you're the second dragon we've seen. The other one was a small dragon named Crackle. This is the first time we've seen a fully adult dragon." James said

"Yes, the first you two princes have seen but not the first to Princess Sofia… am I right?"

"How did you know?" Sofia asked

"Wait, you've seen an adult dragon before?" James asked Sofia

"Yes." Sofia answered

"So you really were the one my father spoke of." Ardebit chuckled

"You're father?"

"Yes. My father is Everburn the eldest dragon."

"Whoa, Sofia, you've been to Blazing Palisades? And you have actually met the eldest dragon?" Hugo asked

Sofia nodded

"When? How come I never heard of this?" James asked

"It's a long story. I promise I'll tell you all about it later." Sofia said

"Okay so you're a dragon…"

"Yes and not just any kind of dragon. I can breathe fire but not like my father who can destroy magical object. My gift is to see the future and if it is within my power, I can even grant your deepest wish."

"What? You can actually do that?"

"Of course. I can even cure your little Blackthorn curse."

"What?!" the three shouted in unison

"Certainly. You no longer have to go through the trouble of going to Avalor and risking yourselves to find a cure."

Ardebit went back to his human form and walk towards Hugo. "Don't you want to know if Sofia will be yours? I can even make it come true. You won't have to worry about her brother or anything in your way. It will be just like what you have always dreamed of." He whispered to Hugo

"What?" Hugo stood still and thought deeply about it

Ardebit then went to James. "How about it Prince James? I can grant your wish. Your wish of finally being with the person you love the most, Sofia. I can make it all happen without having you go through all the trouble. You do know all the consequences if you two got together. Your parents will never approve of this. The whole village will create rumors about the two of you. You will both have a difficult of keeping this relationship as everyone will tend to keep you apart. But just if I grant this wish, everything will be perfect. You and Sofia will both live your happily ever after as the King and Queen of Enchancia. Everyone will be happy of this relationship. Your parents would be even proud of the both of you. no one will be there to stand in your way anymore. No more pesky princes trying to court your sister, no more princesses trying to go after you. Everything will be simply perfect."

James just stood there in silence facing the ground.

Ardebit finally went to Sofia. "And Princess Sofia, don't you want to go back to how things were before? When you can just have fun with your family and friends again? And live the time when you didn't have this curse? Live and play with you animal friends forever? Just like how things used to be at the RPA, when you spend your time with your friends? The time when you and your friends didn't have the time to worry about going your separate ways? You can see it now that you are all growing apart now. Most of your friends are now preparing to rule their own kingdoms and some are already engaged. They've all planned ahead already while you are still so unsure of what to do. Don't you want to know your purpose or what you must do in your life? And what if you continue on this quest you could or your friends could get killed? Hildegard was already injured. A leopard already attacked you twice. And there are much more dangers ahead. Make this wish and you will all be safe back home. I can give you all of that."

"I…" Sofia looked at the flower marked on her arm

"So what will it be? Do you really want to miss this one chance to make all your dreams come true, to know anything you want in this world, just to go out of here and cross the dangerous path to Avalor? All this trouble just to cure the curse when I can just remove it and bring you all and your friends back to Enchancia? So what will it be?" Ardebit asked

The three looked at each other and then they nodded to each other. They faced Ardebit with serious looks in their faces.

"We decline your offer." They all said

"Are you sure about that?" he asked once again

"Yes."

"Even if Sofia's curse were to be removed, whoever did this is still out there and whoever this person maybe won't stop and will keep hurting Sofia. This person still has the ancient book and can still cast a new and probably more dangerous spell. And I won't let that happen. I want to capture whoever did this to her and put an end to this curse or any other spells casted." James said "And for the other offer, I still want to refuse it. I want to face the challenges ahead with my own power. Even if the whole world will be against it, as long as it is true we will fight together."

"Thank you for the offer but I humbly refuse it. I want to work hard on the matter on my own. I won't be satisfied unless those feelings were returned truly and not by some spell. I promised myself to never cheat again after what happened years ago. I know that I'll regret it if I did." Hugo said

"I am truly grateful that you can cure this curse but like James said, whoever did this is still out there. We can't stop, not after all the challenges and obstacles we've been through together. And even though I wish that everything would be back to normal, I don't want to forget about this. Sure, there are many dangers ahead but this whole adventure made us stronger together as a team and as long as we're together, we can overcome all of that. And even though I terribly miss my family and friends back home, I have a family here with me. And I know that even though we will all go our separate ways, we will always return." Sofia smiled

"Very well." Ardebit sighed and suddenly chuckled. "You've passed the test."

"Huh?"

"You have passed my test. I already knew you were worthy of my trust from the start. I saw the friendship and courage you all had in you. James, Hugo… even though you both hated each other's guts you still saved each other from the great danger that lied upon the maze. And Sofia, I never doubted you, my old man had already told me a lot about you and I even saw it for myself. You truly have the purest heart I have ever seen." Ardebit turned around and sat on the throne

"So it was just some sort of trick to test us?" Hugo said

"Can he even really make our wish come true?"

"No, I don't think your wishes were within his powers but he can tell you the future though. But I think he was just playing with your minds for his own amusement. My apologies." Christopher sighed and they all looked at Ardebit who was shaking and covering his mouth, trying to prevent his laugh from coming out.

"Oh I am so gonna get him!" Hugo was about to charge but James and Christopher grabbed both of his arms to stop it. "LET ME GO! Dammit! I can't believe he made me say something so embarrassing! He is so gonna pay for this!" Hugo yelled as he kept on struggling.

"But a part of it was serious, wasn't it?" Sofia asked

"You're pretty smart as well. Good thing you aren't as hot-headed as the other one." Ardebit laughed. "Okay, let's be serious now since I've probably wasted some of your time." Ardebit stood up and created a flying coach.

"Wow…"

"All aboard." Ardebit said

They all hopped on and took a seat while Ardebit sat on the driver's seat.

"Before we leave, I need you all to promise me that you won't tell anybody about me being a dragon."

"Okay." The three nodded

"Good."

"So are you going to drag this thing out of here?"

"Do I look like a horse to you? I've been practicing magic for hundreds of years; you don't actually think I would haul such a thing."

"Well…"

"Of course not. Now hang on." Ardebit waved his hand and the coach started to move high speed. They went towards the ceiling.

"He knows what he's doing, right?" Sofia asked

"Yeah, maybe…" James said

"Hey! You do know we're going to crash-" Hugo yelled

Then just before they hit the ceiling, Ardebit snapped his fingers a hole appeared. The carriage went straight to it. Then they immediately resurfaced to the forest.

"Nevermind." Hugo said and went back to his seat

The three felt like they finally started to breathe again. It felt like it has been days since they last say the sun or feel the warm breeze of the wind through their skin. The carriage started to rise once more, they were above the trees. They stared at the scenery in front of them. Sofia looked down and saw Amber and the others in the forest.

"Hey, look. It's Amber! They're all there!" Sofia said

"It's really them!" Hugo said

"Ardebit! Can you land here? We just saw our friends there." James said

"Okay." Ardebit waved his hands and they slowly descended from the sky

"What's that?" Vivian pointed at the odd object falling towards them

"Everyone move out of the way!" Amber yelled and pulled her friends to the side

The carriage became unsteady and crashed to the ground luckily no one got hurt.

"Wow, nice landing back there… were you trying to kill us?!" Hugo asked

"Sorry, I'm a bit rusty since it's been a long time since I drove this thing." Ardebit nervously laughed while he scratched the back of his head

"Amber!" Sofia shouted

Amber turned around and saw Sofia, James, and Hugo on the carriage with two mysterious people. The three got out of the carriage and came running to their friends

"Sofia?! James?!" Amber hugged her brother and little sister.

"Hey sis." James said

"You're alright… thank goodness." Amber said and started to sob

"Yeah… good thing James found that cave back-" Hugo said

"Hugo…" Amber hugged Hugo which surprised him a bit

"Whoa… uhh, yeah?" Hugo stood still

"Oh… um sorry." Amber release Hugo and wiped her tears. "I was so worried about you three. I thought the storm got you a-and y-you-" Amber sobbed and tears began to form in her eyes

"Hey... sis we're okay, see?" James wiped her tears

"But how did you?" Amber asked

"Oh, let me introduce you guys to Christopher and Ardebit. They're the ones who help us out."

"Pleasure to meet you." Christopher bowed

"Thank you so much for helping them." Amber bowed to Christopher and Ardebit.

Ardebit started to repair the carriage.

"Sofia, how is this thing flying? I don't see any flying horses." Amber asked

"Let's just say that Ardebit has a lot of tricks up his sleeve." Sofia smiled

"So how are you guys? How did you manage to get out of that storm? And how did you end up to this side?" James asked

"It wasn't easy, in fact it was a total nightmare. That horrible storm just came out of nowhere! It was terrible! It ruined my hair and messed up my clothes." Amber complained as James and Sofia laughed

"Oh please you should've heard her complain that night. She talked about her hair for hours after we found that cave." Clio said

"Urgh! Don't even remind me about that! Those bugs eeww!" Amber covered her ears as her face turned pale

"Huh?"

"Well, you see when we found a cave we decided to rest there and wait for the storm to stop. Amber was doing her complaining at that time. After a while, we all fell asleep." Clio said

"Then we all heard Amber scream which woke us all up. We saw the whole place was brimming with insects." Vivian said

"Oh man you should've seen Amber's face when her whole body was covered with them. It was hilarious! The way that Amber kept running and jumping all over the place- ow!" Zandar laughed really loud when Hildegard hit him

"Not funny. It was disgusting, Zandar. Poor Amber had really suffered."

James couldn't stop himself from letting a small laugh escape his mouth when he imaged his sister's face with bugs all over her.

"Oh you think that's funny, let's see you bathe in a pool of bugs." Amber said

"Hey, I wouldn't mind. They're cool, you know."

"I forgot that you're actually one of them."

"So then what?" Sofia asked

"After we finally got all the insects out of Amber, we continued to walk down the path. It was difficult because the ground became slippery since the storm so some of us often slip and almost fell down the cliff."

"Then we saw a giant tree cut in half, we figured that the storm or something must've done it. The other half was lying on the ground and was connected to the other side so we used it to cross to the other side."

"We continued to search for you guys hoping you've already made it. And that was when you found us."

"Alright, that should do it." Ardebit stood up and dusted off his hands "Now, hurry up and get on. I'll take you to the shore." Ardebit sat back on the carriage

They all nodded and quickly sat on the carriage. Then all of a sudden the leopard appeared out of nowhere and attacked them. It knocked out Ardebit and Christopher immediately before they could even have the chance to cast a spell.

"What?! This guy again! Doesn't he ever give up?!" James drew his sword out.

"Seriously, this is just getting ridiculous." Hugo also drew his sword out and prepared to fight the creature

Tarzan jumped and attacked the beast from behind. The leopard bit Tarzan's arm and threw him to a tree which knocked Tarzan out.

James and Hugo darted to the leopard and fought it. The leopard scratched James's arm, which then made him vulnerable.

"James!" Sofia came running to James's side

"Sofia? Get- ah-out of here!" James groaned in pain

Hugo pounced on the animal but it was able to dodge it and hit Hugo which made him hit the giant boulder. Then it ran towards Sofia and James. The leopard exposed his full claws and was about to scratch Sofia that made her scream. James immediately grabbed his sword and pointed it towards the beast.

The sword struck through the leopard's chest killing the beast but at the process of it, the claws of it dug into James's back. His body fell beside the leopard's dead body. James wasn't moving at all as the blood from his back flowed out. James vision became blurred; he could see Sofia and the others coming to him. He heard Sofia's voice scream and cry; then everything became completely dark.

* * *

**A/N**

**I guess you're upset I did this to James huh. Well, I've posted the next chapter at the same time so you won't be that mad. Whoa, so much drama has already happened and we haven't even got to the climax of the story yet. This wasn't actually part of my original draft but so many ideas just came through my head that I just had to write it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**

**Sorry everything is like completely messed up. I really had no idea how to write everything. I just quickly wrote this and posted it, I haven't really got the time to edit it so, it might be a bit confusing, even I'm confused. I've been just so busy lately since we are currently preparing to move so... well nevermind that, I'll just let you read now.**

* * *

Chapter 7

They carefully placed James on the coach as everyone got inside also. The coach immediately flew above the forest. Jane started to treat his wound. Everyone was worried and hoping that James will be alright.

"This is all I can do for now." Jane said as she tied the bandage around James's wound. "He's weak right now but he'll recover, though I don't know when he'll wake up."

"Thank you Jane." Amber said

"James, I'm sorry…" Sofia cried as she caressed the blond hair of the man resting on her lap.

"Oh Sofia, it's not your fault and no one blames you so please don't blame yourself." Amber placed her hand on her sister's shoulder

"But- but i-if-" Sofia started to sob loudly

"It's going to be fine Sofia. Don't worry. James is not weak and he won't let that injury stop him." Hugo smiled reassuringly to Sofia. _"Still... to think that he was willing to let himself get hurt just to save Sofia. I guess he really cares for her that much. What he said back at the maze still bothered me though… but he couldn't really be…"_

* * *

James slowly opened his eyes. The whole place was in complete darkness. He began to walk but unsure if he was even moving. Then a bright light suddenly flashed before his eyes. He looked around and realized that he was in a forest. He noticed a woman standing by the river. The prince walked towards this girl and he realized who it was as the girl turned around.

"S-Sofia?!" James started to ran

Then he saw a leopard appeared in front of Sofia.

"No! Sofia run!" James shouted and ran faster to get to her

James kept running and running but it was as if he was getting father and father away from them. The leopard brought out its sharp claws and jumped on Sofia. The leopard began to tear and scratch all over Sofia's body. James widen as he saw what's happening to the person he loves. His eyes became lifeless as he heard her scream and cry in pain. James grabbed her lifeless body in his arms. He cupped her cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. Tears came flowing out of his eyes without stopping.

The leopard growled at James. James raised his head and at the leopard with red lifeless eyes. Without any hesitation the beast charged and attacked James. The last thing James saw was the beast's blood-thirsty eyes and razor sharp claws that were tainted with the fresh red blood of his beloved.

* * *

"Urgh…" James groaned

"James?" Sofia called

Then James started rolling and tossing over. He was sweating really hard as he looked like in great pain.

"What's happening to him?" Sofia asked

"Is he having a nightmare? James?!" Amber said

"James, please wake up! James!" Sofia shouted as he held James's hand

James started to calm down as he suddenly opened his eyes.

"Ah! W-what?!" James mumbled as he started to shake

"James!" They all shouted

"What? I- I was- and-" James mumbled

"James, it's alright now. Everything is going to be fine." Sofia said

"Sofia?" James grabbed her and pulled her tightly against him

"It's okay… I'm here…" Sofia smiled as she returned the hug

"James, are you alright now? Does it still hurt?" Amber asked

James pulled away from Sofia and smiled at Amber, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm fine already. It still hurts a bit but I'll be okay."

Amber sighed in relief. "Thank goodness…" Amber then smacked James's head

"Ow! What was that for?!" James shouted

"Don't ever do something that dangerous or out of the blue again. You got everyone so worried here." Amber yelled at him with a 'big sister' tone

Everyone started to laugh at the Enchancia twins.

"Okay okay. I promise I won't do something that drastic." James laughed

Seriously, James this is why I'm the older twin between the two of us." Amber said

"Only by seven minutes, Amber." James said

"Hey look, we're almost to at the shore!" Sofia shouted

* * *

Ardebit carefully and successfully landed the coach safely to the sand.

"Well, this is as far as I can go. I would give you a ride to Hakalo but we're not allowed to leave this island since we're the guardians of this place." Ardebit said

Sofia shook her head, "No, it's okay. You've done plenty enough. Thank you so much for helping us."

"You're welcome, Princess Sofia." Christopher bowed and went back to the carriage

"Oh, and I almost forgot to give you this." Ardebit took a gem inside his pockets and gave it to Sofia. It was a clear colored and diamond shaped gem with a sort of purple flame glowing inside of it.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Sofia admired the gems beauty

"It's a special king of gem, Sofia. Take care of it, you will need it." Ardebit said as he got on the carriage

"Thank you." Sofia said

They all waved their hands goodbye as they watched the carriage flew away.

"Now what?" Hugo asked

"How are we going to Hakalo? We don't even have a boat." Amber said

"What? Are we going to swim all the way there?" Zandar jokingly said

"Lei-Lani how much father are we from Hakalo anyway?" James asked

"Hmm… we're close, see that island? Lani pointed at a small island, "Hakalo is just behind that island."

"Wow, we really are that close." Hildegard said

"Yeah but how are we going to get there?" Clio asked

"Why don't we just build a boat?" Sofia asked

"What? It'll be really difficult considering we don't even have any materials or the right tools for it." Amber said

"No, we have all the materials right here Amber. It's the jungle after all, we can build it with just a few wood and vines and a few other things."

"Well…"

"Come on, we can do this. We just have to work together."

"Okay… okay… let's do it." Amber smiled

"That's the spirit! And don't worry Tarzan and I will help. Tarzan is sort of an expert on this." Jane chuckled

"Alright, then. We'll have to divide ourselves into groups. One group will gather some wood, another will get the vines, then one group will already start building it. Let's go!"

The princes and princesses began their quest to make a boat with heads held up high. They began to work together as a team, in order to finally reach their destination.

"_Put your faith in what you most believe in  
Two worlds, one family  
Trust your heart  
Let fate decide  
To guide these lives we see_

_Softly tread the sand below your feet now  
Two worlds, one family  
Trust your heart  
Let fate decide  
To guide these lives we see_

_Raise your head up  
Lift high the load  
Take strength from those that need you  
Build high the walls  
Build strong the beams  
A new life is waiting  
But danger's no stranger here_

_Somewhere something is calling for you  
Two worlds, one family  
Trust your heart  
Let fate decide  
To guide these lives we see"_

* * *

Finally, the boat was done. It was a small boat but was big enough for all of them. It contained a small cabin that contained their belongings, such as their clothes, sleeping bags, weapons, emergency kit, and such. It has a large sail made from the cloth of their tent. And for an additional design, they added a hand-made flag with the colors: red, green, and blue and a crown in the middle.

The group lied down on the white sand. And they watched the bright orange sun setting on the beautiful horizon and felt as if a new hope has regained their spirits. They decided to set sail in the morning since it was already late.

Amber then decided it was the right time to start her plan since everyone is exhausted and starting to set up camp. She swiftly went to Hugo and whispered to him about the plan.

"W-wait, now?" Hugo asked

"No, next week, of course it's right now! It's the perfect moment Hugo, no one will notice the two of you gone since they're all busy and even if they noticed, I'll cover for you, alright?" Amber said

"Fine, but you could've warned me earlier before suddenly telling me that I must confess you know. I need to prepare myself, or I might lose my consciousness." Hugo nervously said

"No you won't. Now go and I'll send Sofia there to meet you, okay?" Amber said as he pushed Hugo's back

Hugo nodded and walked away from the camp without anyone noticing.

Amber took a deep breath and approached Sofia, who was talking to Vivian and Lani. "Sofia!" Amber called

"Oh hey Amber, is there something you need?" Sofia turned around and smiled at her sister

"Can you come with me for a moment?" Amber pointed at a secluded area

"Okay…" Sofia turned back to Vivian and Lani, "I'll right be back." She said before going to Amber

"Sure." Vivian said

"That was… odd. What do think Amber wants to say to her that she obviously didn't want anyone else to hear?" Lani asked

"Huh? You think Amber didn't want anyone to hear about it? Are you sure you aren't jumping into conclusions or anything? Maybe she just didn't want to bother our conversation." Vivian said

"Maybe…" Lani said with a bit of suspicion

* * *

"So what was it that you wanted Amber?" Sofia asked

"Oh can you help Hugo with something? I was going to do it but I'm just too busy." Amber pleaded

"Wait, that's it? You could've just told me back there instead of pulling me away from Vivian and Lani." Sofia said

"O-oh, w-well I didn't want to interrupt their little discussion so I brought you here." Amber said

"Okay… what do I have to help him with?" Sofia asked

"Just gathering some firewood and stuff. He's over there behind those boulders. I count on you to take care of that, I'll see you later." Amber patted Sofia's shoulder before walking away.

* * *

Hugo was walking aimlessly around the beach, thinking of what to say to Sofia. He was so nervous. His hands were all sweaty. His stomach was tied in knots when he thinks about what might happens. His heart was beating so loud, he couldn't even hear his own thoughts.

"_Maybe I shouldn't do this… no, I might not have a chance like this again. If I don't act now, it will probably too late in the future. And besides Amber did her best to help me, now I just have to do my best too." _Hugo thought. He turned around with a determined and brave face, but was surprised to see Sofia standing behind him, then he felt like all of his courage drained out of him.

"Hey…" Sofia said

"Sofia! Oh- uh… hi." Hugo stuttered. _"Damn, that was really pathetic and so embarrassing."_

"Amber asked me to help you out. Are you alright?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Hugo nervously laughed

"Nothing, you just seemed… nevermind. Let's go now." Sofia started wo walk to the forest and pick up some sticks along the way

"Go where?" Hugo asked

"Um, we were supposed to gather some firewood?" Sofia turned around and looked at Hugo confusedly

"O-oh right! Sorry, I guess I'm still a bit tired. It's been a long day after all." Hugo said as he followed Sofia

"Uh huh… are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go get some rest now." Sofia worriedly said

"No, no I'm fine, really…"

They went to the forest and started to gather some wood. While walking around, Hugo spotted something shine brightly behind the trees and went to check on it.

"Wow…" he said

"Hmm, this should be enough… Hugo?!" Sofia called as she noticed that Hugo wasn't around

"Yeah." Hugo ran back as he heard Sofia calling him

"Oh! There you are. We better head back now."

"Um, Sofia!" Hugo called

"Yes, is something the matter?" Sofia asked

"Can we go someplace first? I want to show you something." Hugo asked

"Well… I guess, but only for a few minutes." Sofia said

"Great." Hugo grabbed Sofia's wrist and pulled her towards the place he saw earlier

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Sofia said

It was a small and beautiful lake. The moon was reflected on the water that made it shine so bright. The water was so pure and clean. The fishes that jumped looked as if they were flying. It was peaceful and the cold breeze that touched their skin made them feel calm.

"I'm glad you liked it…" Hugo said

"It's just like the one in my secret garden…" Sofia said. She remembered the night before they left Enchancia, when she was with James in her secret garden and somehow this time it felt different than before like she felt calmer and safer that time than this one, perhaps it was because they were in an unknown forest.

Hugo stared at Sofia for a while, admiring her beauty as the soft wind blew through her long auburn hair and how the moon's light reflected in her blue eyes made her even more beautiful. He decided that he will finally tell her the feeling that he felt for her for a long time.

"Sofia… there's something that I want to tell you."

* * *

Amber looked around feeling uneasy and worried.

"_Where could they be? They've been gone for a while…"_ She said as she fiddled her hair with her fingers. _"Maybe I should go check up on them…"_ she stood up

"Amber, where are you going?" Hildegard asked

"Oh, I'm just going for a walk since my legs seem to be falling asleep." Amber said and walked away in a quick pace.

"Okay… huh?" Hildegard said

"That was weird, what's the matter with her?" Clio asked

James noticed this and decided to follow Amber.

Amber quickly went to where she left them but noticed that they weren't there. She then saw a trail of footprints and followed it that led her to them. Amber spotted the two that were still talking: she immediately hid behind the trees hoping that they wouldn't notice her.

"It's something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while now." Hugo said

"What is it Hugo?" Sofia smiled at him

"Sofia, we've known each other for a long time now and even though we didn't become friends when we first met. I was childish, immature, selfish, and terribly mean to you Sofia. That day at the flying derby tryouts, I made the biggest mistake and I deeply regretted it. But then came the race to the Flying Crown, even though I was stubborn you never gave up on me. You helped me overcome my selfishness and stubbornness. After that you kept on trying to be friends with me, even when no one would even want to come close to me but you did. You showed everyone how much I've changed and I even gain a lot of friends because of you and I am truly grateful for everything you have done for me. And now over the years I have realized I have developed a strong and deep emotion towards you. Sofia, I love you… and I would like you to let me court you." Hugo took Sofia's hand and held it firmly.

"Wha-? Hugo, I… I-I appreciate your feelings for me… b-but…"

Hugo frowned a bit and let go of her hand.

"But I can't accept them. I'm sorry."

"Why? Just give me a chance; I know it's a lot to take in…"

"N-no… I'm sorry, after everything that has happened… the curse… this whole mess… I just can't think of love right now. I'm just not ready to be in a relationship with someone…" Sofia cried. Then James's face suddenly appeared in her mind that made her even more confused.

"There's someone else, isn't there?" Hugo asked

"What?! No, I don't…"Sofia said

Hugo looked deep in Sofia's eyes to find an answer. "Okay…" he sadly said

"I'm sorry." Sofia said as she ran away, leaving Hugo alone.

"Sofia?!" Amber said and tried to catch up with her

* * *

"Sofia!" Amber called

"Wha-? Amber?" Sofia stopped running. "What are you doing here, Amber?"

"Sofia, why did you do that to Hugo? You could've given him a chance."

"No, I didn't want to get his hopes up. I just like him as a friend, Amber. I can't think of him as anyone other than that."

"Why? Hugo is great Sofia. He is kind and wonderful. He's obviously changed a lot, and he really likes you Sofia. You're really lucky that you've got someone like Hugo who would do anything for you… why?"

"Amber… could it- you and…"

Amber nodded, "I guess the secret's finally out, huh…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I? I mean, Hugo is in love with you, and there's nothing I can do about it…"

"What are you talking about? You haven't even told him…"

"I can't. I just can't. Sofia, please… go back to Hugo and just give him a chance. Please, do it for me."

"No."

"Why?! I'm doing this for you and Hugo and me…"

"Really Amber? Are you sure this will make you happy?

"Yes."

"Then tell me… why are you the one crying?"

"I'm not…" Amber touched her cheek, only now realizing how much tears she had been shedding

"Amber, you really love Hugo right? Then you should be the one who's there for him, you're the one who should be by his side as you have always been."

"Thank you Sofia, but tell me why did you reject him?" Amber asked

"I just couldn't. I felt like it just wasn't meant to be for us or maybe I'm just not ready to have a relationship. And there's also this curse and I just want to focus on this before anything else." Sofia said

"I see… let's head back to the other's now." Amber said as she pulled Sofia's hand

"But what about-"

"We have to leave him alone for a while. He'll come back when he's ready; right now he just needs to be alone."

* * *

Amber and Sofia went back to the camp. Sofia tried to calm down and act normal as she went to Vivian. Amber spotted James and walked towards him.

"James, we need to talk." Amber said

"What is it Amber?" James asked

"You know exactly why I wanted to talk to you. You saw everything right? I noticed you hiding behind those trees."

"Okay so I followed you. I was worried because you were all acting weird. And-"

"Then you know about Hugo. Just say what you want to say already."

"I knew even before that, he told me before we ended up in that cave. He even asked me for my consent but I obviously said no, but why the heck did you help him?"

"Because I love him, and I wanted him to be happy even if it means that he won't be with me. You wouldn't understand James…" Amber placed her hand on her forehead

"I do." James whispered

"What?"

"I understand Amber, more than you know. And I'm actually far worse…" James said as he held the back of his head

"Who?" Amber asked

James smiled sadly as he looked into Amber's eyes.

"No way…" Amber covered her mouth with her hand. "Sofia?"

Amber placed both of her hands on James's shoulders.

"It is Sofia, isn't it?! That's why- oh it all makes sense now. Hildegard and Clio were right after all. I knew something was different with the way you treat her from the rest of us. You love her don't you?"

James sighed in defeat. "Yes, Amber… you're right, I am in love with Sofia. I have been for a long time now, longer than you could've imagined."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"How could I tell anyone that I am in love with Sofia? You know how everyone would react."

"I can imagine… being in love with your own stepsister…" Amber sighed "Since when?"

"I don't know exactly when but I started to feel something odd inside me when I first met her, when she came to live with us. Ever since then I tried to help her in any way that I can. I tried my best to help her when she first started at RPA. And I just felt that I needed to protect her. At first I love her as my sister but then when we started to grow up, I just started to feel something weird inside me everytime I get close to her until my feelings for her changed. I kept thinking about her every day. I was confused at first, I kept telling myself to stop because it was weird and it wasn't right but I couldn't. Every moment I'm with her this feeling grew and grew that I couldn't deny it anymore. I'm in love with her. I'm the worst." James covered his face with his hands

"No, you're not. You love her and there was no way that you could've controlled or stop it from happening. That's just how love is." Amber patted James's back

"Ow! Ah! Amber that hurts, you know that I'm injured right?"

"Oops, sorry. Well nevermind that. Now that you've finally admitted it, I'm going to help you."

"What?! No!"

"What? Why not?"

"Because I have no intention of ever telling Sofia."

"But why?"

"It's better that way Amber. If I tell her and she doesn't feel the same everything will change between us… and you know, when we were back at the cave and Ardebit tested us by giving us a choice to grant our wishes, and Sofia's deepest wish was to back to how things were. She wanted to live normally back in Enchancia again, the way things used to be before this whole adventure started. She wanted to be with Mom and Dad again, to be with her friends again, to be with her sister… and brother just like how we used to be. If I confessed to her then everything will change, even after this is all over… things will never be the same again and I don't want to hurt her." James said sadly

"James…" Amber then hit James on his head

"Ow! What was that for?!" James rubbed the part Amber hit

"Oh stop being such a drama queen James, that part is already taken by yours truly. Now stop whining about negative 'what ifs'. Have you even thought of what if Sofia likes you back? Sure, everything will change but maybe it will change for the better. You were willing to risk your life to save her, that's how much you love her. There might be people who will be against it but as long as the both of you truly love each other, then you can overcome anything together, and besides you will always have me to support you. I'm your sister after all."

"Amber…" James sighed

"_I'm your twin  
__You're my twin  
__We stick together through thick and thin  
__No matter what I do  
__I'm always stuck with you"_

"**Now** you're actually singing that?" James chuckled

"_And if trouble comes our way  
__I know my twin will save the day  
__Wherever you may be  
__You're always stuck with me_

_When you're feeling sad and blue  
__Call my name, and I'll find you  
__We have a bond that's tried and true_

_You and me  
__Me and you  
__Two by two_

James…

_I know that you are in love  
__So please let me help you now  
__I see it in your eyes, it's love  
__And It is without a doubt"_

"I don't know Amber… what if-" Amber placed a finger over James's mouth to shut him

"_When you're feeling sad and blue  
__Call my name, and I'll find you  
__We have a bond that's tried and true_

_You and me"_

"_Me and you" _James sang

"_Two by two" _They both sang

"James, you've got to at least try otherwise you'll never be happy. If you don't tell her, you will surely regret it."

"I know, but-"

"You have to tell her soon because no matter how hard you try to protect her, there will surely come a time when someone will come in her life and take her away and you won't be able to do anything because at that time it will be her choice. Will you be able to live like that, knowing the person you love the most is in another person's arms?"

James tried to imagine it and it pained him to see that, what more if it really came true. Truth was that moment when he saw Hugo confessed to Sofia, he wanted to jump out there and pull Sofia away. If Sofia hadn't rejected Hugo, he would've done something drastic. "I-I…"

"Think about it… don't make the same mistake that I did." Amber said before walking away

* * *

**A/N**

**Okay, I know it was a total cliffhanger. Sorry, I really had no idea how to end chapters. I've been having writer's block so my story hasn't been going well. I guess the stress is getting to me. I'll try to work on this. I really hope you like it so far. See you in the next chapter  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**

**H-hey guys. Sorry I haven't updated for more than a month. My laptop just crashed and I lost ALL of my data so the fanfics I wrote are gone so I am currently trying to fix everything and I'm rewriting the other chapters but I can assure you guys that I am not giving up on this and I will finish this story even if it's the last thing that I do. **

**Some of the parts here are just some fun extras I've written cause I really don't want my stories to so dramatic all the time, like a calm-before-the-storm sort of thing since it can't always be storming. The first part of the story is actually a real event that I experienced, with a little exaggeration in the story.**

* * *

Chapter 8

The princesses and princes, except for Hugo, were all chatting and playing games. Some were even telling some of their ridiculous stories that happened in Royal High.

"Okay, so what the best prank you've ever pulled?" Hildegard asked James and Zandar

"Oh I know! Remember that false fire alarm?" Zardar

"Yeah, everyone was panicking at that time. I heard a rumor that during the chaos some students made a mistake at the potions lab that made the whole hallway stink like a skunk and it took them a week to find out the cause, though they never did. They just cleaned up the whole building which gave us a week of vacation. Thank goodness we were out of the school." Hildegard said

"And the best part was, we didn't have to take the pop quiz Mr. Windwar gave us because we all know how hard his tests are that no one can get high scores… except of course Sofia and you, James." Clio said

"So you were the ones that pulled off the alarm?" Sofia asked

"Yes."

"I should've known it was the two of you." Amber said

"So that's it? The fire alarm prank was the best you've done. Seriously? Even Desmond could've done better than that."

"As if that's was the prank."

"Huh?"

"Come on you tell them James." Zandar elbowed James arm who was silent the whole time

"Nah, you can tell them."

"What's wrong? You've been quiet this whole time. You loved to finish the stories of our pranks whenever we tell them about it."

"I'm just not in the mood." James looked at Sofia and saw the worry in her eyes, he quickly looked away. "I'm tired, we had such a long day after all and my back still hurts a bit."

"Oh, do you want me to help you with that?" Sofia aasked

"No, it's fine. I'm gonna go to sleep."

"James-"

"I'm okay Sof. Don't worry about it."

"Of course I'll worry even more when you say that!"

"It's just a scratch Sof, nothing for you to make a fuss about."

"A scratch?! James! That leopard practically sliced you in half! A lot of blood came out of you! I was worried about you. I thought I was going to lose you." Sofia sobbed at the memory

"Sof…" _"I thought the same, I saw it. Even though it was just a dream, it felt… real."_

"We all were James. You've done enough for today. You should let Sofia help you at least."

"But-"

"No buts! Don't make me say it again or else you are grounded young man."

"Geez, Amber. You're supposed to be my sister not my mom, though it's usually dad who grounds me."

"Let's go to the tent, I'll help you replace the bandages on your back." Sofia said as she pulled James's arm to the tent

The others watched the two walk away until they disappeared from their sight.

"Sofia?" Vivian quietly said

"Typical James…" Amber muttered as she sighed

"So what was you masterplan, Zandar?"

"What- oh right!" Zandar cleared his throat, "You see, James and I planned it all for weeks… you know all about Mr. Windwar's daily routine?"

"What routine?" Amber asked

"Wait, do mean how he always cleans his desk, organizes his papers in a very very neat order, checks his pocket watch so he starts his class at **exactly **9:00, which is so annoying because anyone who comes to class even a second after nine will be automatically marked as late for class. I had to go half an hour early just so he wouldn't do so." Hildegard said

"Yup, that's the one."

"What about it?" Clio asked

"You see during that routine, I had a chance to leave without anyone noticing and turn on the alarm. And of course during the commotion no one will notice anything else happening and that's when James does his part."

"Wait, why did you have to go inside the class when you could've just gone straight to the fire alarm?"

"I had to go to avoid any suspicion coming from the other teachers, so I had to go using my own pace."

"But you always come to class about five minutes left before the class starts how could you do that when the alarm was at the other side of the hall, it would at least cost five minutes to get there."

"Ah! The answer to that is… this." Zandar pulled out a pocket watch from his bag.

"Wait is that…"

"Yes, it's old Windwar's pocket watch."

"How?"

"James went to his room a few hours before the class stared then went to our first class without Mr. Windwar noticing. So when I arrived, he was almost done with his routine but since the watch was in James's possession, he had to look for his 'missing' watch which gave me enough time to do my part then during the commotion I just had to blend in with the crowd."

"And James?" Jane asked

"During the commotion he immediately did his part, putting laxatives potion on Mr. Windwar's coffee."

"No way!" they all gasped

"Way…"

"Then the potions lab incident was actually-"

"Mr. Skunkwar."

Then Hildegard's face started to turn into a mixture of pale and green. Everyone else started to laugh really hard. Vivian was just sitting there with a pale face as if she had been petrified. After a long while, they finally stopped laughing and tried to catch their breaths as if they had just run a hundred miles. After they had finally relaxed, and their breathings were back to normal, Amber realized something odd about the plan and asked Zandar about it.

"But how can that be when the lab was a floor above us? Why didn't he just take the bathrooms close to his room?" Amber asked making everyone look at her and Zandar

"Oh yeah, you're right Amber. It's weird how he would go all the way to the floor above us just to get to the bathroom. He could've just taken a nearer one."

"Yes he would… if he had the keys to unlock it." Zandar smirked

"What?! You stole the keys to every bathroom except the one nearest to the lab? How can anyone not notice that?" Jane asked

"That's why we did it at night…"

"You broke in?" Tarzan asked

"No, not really. It's kinda hard to break in when you're already inside in the first place."

"Huh?"

"You know how James and I haven't caused any trouble a few weeks before the actual day…"

The others nodded.

"We've been doing a bunch of school works at night and sometimes use the excuse of us studying our lessons when we become rulers of our kingdoms, you know that boring stuff. We had to do that every night so the teacher would become accustomed to our new behavior and thus removing any suspicions. Then when the day before our big day came, we 'borrowed' all the keys except for the bathroom nearest to the lab. And when the students were evacuating the school, James put the potion on Mr. Windwar's coffee and met up with me outside, and when we saw Mr. Windwar running towards the stairs with the key in his hand, we immediately returned the keys before the other teachers have arrived."

"I knew it was too good to be true that you and James would finally stop all those childish antics. Oh if daddy ever hears about this…" Amber sighed

"What can I say… you can take the boys out of the pranks but you can't take the pranks out of the boys…"

"You've got to admit that was a really clever plan…"

"And they've actually got great acting skills, maybe I should sign you up for the theatre class." Hildegard said

"Thanks but no thank you."

"Oh but you must, it would be such a shame if you waste such a great talent. When we get back to Enchancia, I'll make sure that your name is at the top of the list of the theatre class." Hildegard smirked

"Urgh…"

Everyone started to laugh at Zandar. But a certain princess started to wonder about another prince who has yet to return.

"_Hmm, where is he? He's been gone for quite a while…"_ Amber asked herself

Amber stood up and started to walk towards the forest.

"Where are you going Amber?" Hildegard asked

"Oh, I'm just going for a stroll and take the image of Mr. Skunkwar out of my mind." Amber chuckled nervously hoping no one would notice

"I know what you mean…" Clio sighed

"I'll see you later."

"Okay."

* * *

"_Where could he be?" _Amber thought as she walked through the forest

Amber saw a figure standing by the lake. She walked closer and realized it was Hugo. She immediately ran towards him.

Hugo was just standing there, skipping some rocks as he watched it swiftly move across the lake and sank to the bottom. He grabbed another rock and stared at it for a while, then he suddenly threw it with much force. Hugo breathed hard and wanted to just hit something to release his anger, but he didn't, he just stared into the reflection of the moon on the lake hoping that all of the bad feelings would just disappear. Then he suddenly heard something snap, which startled him thinking that it might be some wild animal hunting for food. He immediately drew his sword, ready to attack the beast.

"Whoa! Hugo! It's me." Amber held both he hands up

"A-Amber?! What are you doing here?" Hugo withdrew his sword

"Hello to you too. That was quite a way to greet a princess." Amber smirked

"Uh- sorry about that. I thought you were a-"

Amber raised her eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes to Hugo.

"Nevermind." Hugo finished

"What are you still doing here, Hugo?"

"You see, Amber… I-" Hugo sighed

"It's okay… you should just let it out. It might make you feel better instead of just keeping it to yourself."

"I- I can't."

"Hey… I'm your friend Hugo, you can tell all your troubles to me. Believe me when I say that you'll feel better when you tell somebody about it."

Hugo looked into Amber's eyes and sighed as he saw the worry Amber felt, "I got rejected. Sofia doesn't feel the same way."

"But she said that she couldn't think about love right now because she is still focused on the task at hand."

"H-how did you know that?"

"I- I might've overheard some-" Amber averted her eyes

"You followed us and eavesdropped on us."

"Well…"

"So you basically spied on us."

"Yes. I was just worried about you two since you've been gone for a while so I looked for the two of you."

"So I don't have to explain the whole story then…"

"She's just under a lot of pressure. After all, saving the world is too big of a responsibility for an 18 year old girl, maybe after this is over you can-"

"No."

"What?"

"No, there isn't any chance for me."

"What are you talking about?! You don't know that for sure."

"I wish that it were like that but no… I know that she will never return my feelings, she will never become mine because…"

"Hugo?"

"Her heart already belonged to someone else."

* * *

"OW! THAT HURTS!"

"Urgh. Hold still and let me do it already!"

"No way!"

"Don't make me call Amber."

"Fine! Go ahead, I'm not afraid of her."

"Oh really? You wouldn't mind if Amber puts it on you? I'm sure she'd be really gentle… in her own way."

James yelped at the thought of Amber 'treating' his wound, "Y-you wouldn't…"

"If it's the only way to have the medicine on your wound… I would." Sofia said with a serious face

James stared into Sofia's eyes looking for a sign that she's just joking, but there wasn't any trace of her lying; though James already knew that from the start, Sofia was never on to tell a lie.

"Now hold still." Sofia started to apply the temporary remedy that Jane made

"OW!"

"Oh come on James, stop squirming. It's not that bad."

"Oh please, you're just saying that because unlike me, you can't feel pain."

"…"

"S-Sofia, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it. I'm sorry…"

Sofia smiled at James, "It's okay… it's funny how I really missed feeling of pain. Even though it hurts, when something goes missing you can't help but miss it no matter how it hurts you. I don't want it James… I don't want to not feel anything. I can't even remember how it feels; I don't know what you're feeling right now. It might've been actually better if the leopard hit be instead of you, that way nobody would get hurt, figuratively speaking of course. But still… to not feel anything when you're dying… it's just sad and pitiful, the final moment of your life and not feel anything from it is just-"

James pulled Sofia into a tight hug. "Don't! Don't say it! You are not going to die! I already promised you that! I – we can't lose you…" James can hear Sofia sobbing "It's okay Sofia… please don't be like that. You know that I really hate it whenever I see you cry. We're going to fine you'll see and when this is finally over, things will go back the way it was."

"Everything will be back to normal? Everything will be the same as before? Nothing will change, right?

James stared at Sofia for a while, feeling sad and a bit dejected but showed her a small smile "… yeah… it will be as if everything was just a horrible nightmare that we will soon forget after we wake up…"

* * *

"What do you mean Hugo? Did she say anything? Who?!"

"No…"

"Then how are you so sure about this?"

"I saw it."

"You saw what?"

"I saw it in her eyes. She was thinking about someone else. A part of her reason for rejecting me is that this whole situation she's in is keeping her mind occupied but I felt that there was another reason why…"

"Sofia…" Amber sighed, "Why didn't she tell me-"

"I don't think she knows it herself… but maybe a part of her is saying that she mustn't because there's already someone who holds a special part of her heart from the very start."

"How can you be so sure? What if she wasn't in love with anyone? What if you were mistaken?"

"No. I know… I know what I saw. I know what I felt. I know how she felt. I knew everything the moment I saw the look in her face, in her eyes. It was all too familiar not to notice. Her expression was of a girl in love, though I don't think she had noticed it herself. "

"Who do you think it is?"

"I am not completely sure who it is… but I have a pretty good idea who it is."

* * *

"There." Sofia finished tying James's bandage, "That should do it."

"Thanks Sof."

"You should get some rest now. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

"Sofia…"

"Yes?"

"I… I- uh, thanks. Good night, Sof." James watched as Sofia left the tent and threw himself to the ground, _"Great, what the heck were you thinking?! Tell her what you felt about her and ruin her dream. You can't. You mustn't. This is how things are supposed to be. I… I'll never tell her."_ James slowly lied down on the ground staring endlessly at the ceiling.

* * *

"Sofia?"

"Oh hey Vivian. What is it? Is there something you want?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Umm… okay. Sure."

"_There no other way but to get straight to the point." _Vivian looked at Sofia with a serious expression, "Sofia, is there something going on between you and James?"

Sofia became confused at the question, "Whatever do you mean Vivian?"

"I mean… how do I say this… are the two of you together?"

"Huh?"

"I mea- urgh, you're making this difficult for me since I'm not used to talks like this, it's embarrassing." Vivian took a deep breath, "Sofia, I meant romantically, as in courtship." She finally finished

There wasn't any response from Sofia. Vivian became worried. Sofia just starred at her with a questioned and stunned look on her face. A minute after, there was still silence as Sofia still hasn't muttered a sound.

"S-Sofia? Sofia? Are you alright? Should I ge-" Vivian was cut off by the sound of loud laughter

"V-V-Vivian… I can't… this is just… y-you think that… James… and I are..." Sofia tried to say between her laughs

"Yes, I do. Sofia, I'm being serious here."

"What? Oh, I'm sorry. I just-" Sofia chuckled trying to hold her laugh, "James and I? Together?! That is impossible, Vivian. You know that he's my brother, we can't be-"

"You mean step-brother."

"Either way, we still can't. We've been together for ten years. We're as close as any real blood related siblings."

"Closer than normal siblings should be." Vivian muttered

"Anyway, whatever made you think of that?"

"Well, I've noticed something odd about your expression and actions when you're with James, and him towards you. Like back in Enchancia, how he always pulls the chair for you, holds your hand when go out of the carriage, and he always carries your things for you-"

"But he also does that to Amber."

"Yes, when Amber tells (orders) him to do. James would always offer to do those things for you but not for Amber. And he doesn't do that to any other princesses… only you."

"Don't be silly, Vivian. James does not like me like that and I don't either."

"Are you sure about that? Sofia, I can clearly see that there is something between the two of you."

"There is absolutely nothing-"

"Sofia, please just listen to me for a minute."

Sofia sighed, "Okay, but I'm telling you that there really isn't anything going on."

"I can see it Sofia. I can see how the two of you care for each other. I saw that you always both got each other's backs. I saw how much you both wanted to spend your time together. I saw how much you wanted to protect each other. And when I look into both of your eyes, though you may not have yet realized it, I saw the way you look at each other… the way Desmond and I look at each other."

"Y-you know?! You knew all along about Desmond's feelings for you? H-how? W-when?"

"Yes, I do know. I've realized it for quite a while now."

"So why haven't you told him?"

"I guess we are just both stubborn and shy to face each other… and I guess we're just both scared…"

"Scared? What is there to be afraid of?"

"Desmond and I have known each other for so long… we became great friends. We're always together at school and at the band that we were just afraid to grow apart." Vivian stared at the beautiful night sky, "When I first found about these feelings, I was terrified because if I ever confessed there was a possibility to be rejected."

"But you know now that he shares the same feelings so why haven't you still-"

"Because Sofia… I'm still afraid of… change. If we ever courted then everything will change, our relationship now will change… and if things never worked out for us… we will still drift apart from each other."

"How do you know? How can you be so sure that it will happen?"

"I-I don't but-"

"Exactly! You don't know, and you will **never **know unless you try. Your heart can't be forever filled with fear. You will always have the happiness of love. All you have to do is to believe and trust one another. Change is a good thing Vivian, when you follow your heart."

Vivian smiled at Sofia "Are you?"

"What?" Sofia was confused

"Are you following your heart? Are you listening to it whenever you're with James?"

"Vivian, I thought we were through with this. I do not like James that way."

"Are you sure of that?" Vivian sighed, "I told you that I was scared at first when I found out. I even denied every thought about it. I refused to accept them and I started to lock these feelings away. You might not yet realize it yet, but I know that, even though it might not be right now, someday the locked room in your heart will open and reveal to you the beauty of falling in love. I know you will, you're Sofia after all." Vivian said before heading towards their tent

"I can't be…" Sofia sat down and stared at the big glowing moon wishing for answers.

* * *

**A/N**

**H-hey guys. Sorry again about the super late update. But I'm finally back and I intend to finish this fanfic, even if it's the last thing that I do. I don't know if you still want to read this but I'll still keep on writing. I promise I'll update soon**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sofia was sitting by the shore watching the stars reflected on the water. It sparkled just like Amber's diamonds. She just sat there in silent feeling the cold breeze and the smell of salt water. She couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about what Vivian told her. Could she really be? Did she really like James that way? Sofia just shook her head and denied the thought of it. She sighed as she hugged she legs and rested her head on her knees.

"Sofia?" a familiar voice said

She immediately raised her head up and turned around to see a very familiar face, a little too familiar…

"James… what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I could ask you the same thing." James sat down beside her, "Can't sleep?"

Sofia just nodded and stared back at the sea.

"Me too… what were you thinking about?"

Sofia's eyes suddenly widened. She tried not to panic hoping that she wouldn't get caught because she didn't want James to know she had been thinking about him, "N-nothing much…" she stuttered refusing to look at James. She can feel her face getting warmer and tried to hide her face.

"Oh… Sof…" James said, "Do you really miss Enchancia?"

She looked at James with confusion, "Of course I do. You know that's what I've wanted since we've been away from home for a long time."

"You want to go back to school?" he asked. James, being the mischievous and playful prince that is, didn't of course want to go back to the academy though some part of him just wanted to return home but won't admit it. But the main reason he doesn't want to go back is because he doesn't want to be away from Sofia again. He barely spent time with her because of his royal duties and for once in his life he could finally feel as if he had a chance to be with Sofia, not as his brother.

"Yes, I'm guessing you don't want to cause it's boring to you." she giggled

"Yes, well no… I mean I guess I kinda miss it. The pranks we pulled, the school events, flying derby…"

"I know… I wish we could all just go back to the way it was as if this curse never happened. I just sometimes want to forget all this."

"Sof…" James was hurt by her answer. Did she really want to forget about **everything**, even the times they spent together? The times when he tried his best to tell her his feelings? The times he wanted to show her how much she meant to him?

"I miss our friends, I miss Mom and Dad. I just wish we could all go back to the time when we were just having fun as a family. Mom, Dad, Baileywick, Mr. Cedric, Amber, and you, James. I was really glad to have great siblings. You and Amber were the greatest thing that ever happened to me when I started living in the castle, besides the Amulet. In the past it was just me and my Mom so I was really happy when I found out I was going to be your sister. I'm really glad that I was given this. I could never have a better brother." Sofia held James's hand

_Brother_. James should've been used to it by now but hearing it from Sofia's mouth. It hurts. He has known it for a long time that he was her step-brother but he just now truly realized that that is all they were going to be. He's been probably secretly hoping that things would change but now he realized that it was just a dream. A dream that would never come true.

_Brother_. Somehow saying that just felt odd for Sofia. She's been with James for ten years. For ten years they have been siblings. Ten years she was his sister and he was her brother. They were closer than any other siblings even though they weren't related by blood but they treated each other as if they were. But somehow things were just… different now. Sofia felt pain deep inside her heart when she said that one word, but why? What she said was the truth yet it hurt her a lot.

"Y-yeah."

The two were suddenly silent for a while until James broke it.

"Come on Sof, you better get to your tent and get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow." James released his hand from Sofia, feeling the warmth disappearing

"Ok." Sofia said, suddenly feeling sort of lonely.

"I'll take you to your tent." James offered his hand to help Sofia and she accepted it

* * *

"Goodnight, Sof." James said

"Night, James." Sofia smiled and kissed James's cheek before going inside

James smiled at her before leaving. He looked up to the moon and sighed, feeling a small tear fall down from his eye.

"What the heck?" James's voice quivered. He ran. He ran as fast as his feet can. When he couldn't run anymore he lied down and rested against a tree. He couldn't help it anymore. He cried. His tears kept falling and never seemed to end. The pain he felt was unbearable. He couldn't take it anymore.

He stood up and harshly punched the tree in front of him. His wrist hurt but it was no compare to the pain he felt in his heart. He was filled with anger and sorrow. When he finally calmed down, he sighed once more.

"_I can't. I have to be strong. I have to do this for Sofia. I can't let her down. I won't let my emotions take over me."_

* * *

The next morning they all hoped on the boat and started to prepare it. When everything was settled, Sofia noticed that there were two people who aren't getting on the boat.

"You're not coming with us?" Sofia asked Tarzan and Jane

"No, dear. This is as far as we can go. We have already served our purpose. Now it's time for us to go and for you to go on this journey with your friends." Jane said

"Sofia is with friends. Working together as a team and as one family." Tarzen said

"I understand." Sofia nodded before going back to the boat

"Sofia." Jane called her

"Yes?" she answered

"Don't be afraid Sofia. Find a way to understand yourself and you will understand the person you care for." Jane said

"Uh… ok." Sofia got on the boat but stared at Jane with a confused look, not understanding what she meant

"Huh aren't they coming with us?" Amber asked

Sofia shook her head but smiled at them.

The boat was finally off shore and they were headed to Hakalo. They waved goodbye to Tarzan and Jane, ready to face a new adventure as a united team, minds and hearts connected as one. Or is it?

They stared at the island, finally leaving its grasp, but the memories they've had were never forgotten. The awkwardness to each other grew. The fear, anger, and sadness flowed within their heart but hope was never lost and a new feeling in each other's heart will bloom.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Zandar asked

"No, I don't think so." James said

"How far are we?" Zandar asked

"Same thing since you asked five minutes ago." Amber replied fluttering her fan

"Honestly Zandar, can't you just be patient for one moment." Hildegard scolded

"But I'm bored. I had more fun in that island than being stuck in this boat." Zandar complained

"Bear with it… I'm bored too but at least I'm not complaining." Hildegard said

"Fine." Zandar crossed his arms and sat down quietly again. After a few seconds he asked one more, "Are we-"

"NO!" They all yelled at him

"Okay okay." Zandar raised his hands up in defense

"Hey, since we're all bored and tired of Zandar's annoying complains, why not tell us another story of the pranks and schemes you and James did back at the academy?" Clio suggested

"I would but James here isn't joining with me to tell the story and it's no fun when I'm the only one telling. It's sad, he became a stick-in-the-mud, I think even Baileywick is more fun than him right now." Zandar sarcastically said

"Hey! I am not! Okay, fine… let's get on with the story, which one?" James asked

"Well there's-"

The two kept telling about their pranks and tales in the academy. And all of them laugh at each one of them. They told them about the time they messed up the potions in class which exploded and the teacher made them clean it all up. The time when they conjured up a wild monster in magic class that made everyone fall asleep with its power and drew odd drawings on their faces, James and Zandar definitely enjoyed the silly looks on their faces but Amber was really furious which made James and Zandar laugh even louder. And they also told them about the time when they wrote 'James and Zandar Rule!' on the whole derby field with a sparks spell. That was definitely a memorable event that positively go down in the history of Enchancia.

* * *

"Hey Lani, how close are we?" Sofia asked

"Don't worry Sofia, we're not that far. We're actually just a few miles away." Lani said and looked at the emerald key

"So we're almost there?"

"Yup, just a few more minutes."

"Really? Then let's get this boat going already! Come on!" James said

They all nodded and grabbed their paddles and started to propel the boat faster. Sofia managed the sail and the wind pushed the boat. The wind became too strong that Sofia couldn't control it anymore. The waves were suddenly rising, taking the boat with it. Sofia fell from the boat and was being drifted away by the current.

"Sofia!" James grabbed the rope and tied it around his waist. He jumped.

"James! Are you crazy?!" Amber yelled at her brother but he didn't seem to have heard it

James kept swimming towards Sofia even with the strong current pushing him away. James reached out his hand and tried to grab Sofia.

"James!" Sofia swam as hard as she can to reach James

When he finally caught her, he signaled the others to pull the rope. They saw it and began to pull the rope. A huge wave came again and pushed the boat away and the rope broke. James protectively wrapped his arms around Sofia to protect her from getting harmed during the impact. They watch as their friends were getting farther and farther away from them. Sofia held on to her amulet wishing for help. The amulet responded and glowed brightly. James and Sofia saw this and noticed the strength of the currents lessening. Dolphins suddenly appeared and carried them to their friends.

"Look!" Clio pointed at the two coming towards them

Amber who was sobbing looked to where Clio was pointing and saw Sofia and James. "They're alright!"

"Yes! I knew they'd find a way."

James got on the boat and helped Sofia along. She turned to the dolphins and thanked them. The dolphins nodded and went back under the sea.

"Thank goodness, you're alright." Amber hugged Sofia and James

"So Lani… which way now?" James asked

"Oh…" Lani checked the emerald key, "Actually… we're here." She said to them

They all gave Lani a confused look. "Where is here exactly?" Amber asked

Lani just smiled at them. She turned around and waved the emerald key into a circle. A magical barrier appeared and in front of them was a golden gate. She put the emerald key inside a keyhole with gems around it. The gate began to open revealing the hidden island of the kingdom of Hakalo.

"Whoa…"

"No wonder no one could find it." Hugo said

When they reached the shore, they saw a group of people waiting for them. Sofia recognized two of them, Lei-Lani's parents, the king and queen of Hakalo. They walked towards them and smiled to them.

"Lani!" the queen called

"Mother, Father!" Lani quickly ran to her parents' embrace

"Princess Sofia. It's a pleasure to meet you again." The king said

"Thank you." Sofia curtsied

"Everyone, these are my parents, King Kamea and Queen Halia." Lani said

"Come. Let's go to the palace to get you all cleaned up. Then afterwards we can head to dinner and you can tell us all about your adventure." The queen Halia said

* * *

The palace was very beautiful. It was placed on a giant tree like a treehouse, but in this case, a tree castle. There were different buildings on every tree around the giant tree and they were all connected by wooden bridges. The walls were decorated with vines and flowers. Birds and other animals were happily going around the place. It was very different from the other castles but it was still very beautiful.

"Wow, it's like we're on a tropical vacation." Amber gasped with admiration

"Lani!" a boy with short dark hair and tanned skin came running towards them

"Makani!" Lani said

The boy stopped in front of them with hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Are you alright, Makani?" Lani asked

"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine…" Makani smiled

"Oh, guys… this is Makani. He is my childhood friend and his father is the general of our soldiers in Hakalo who is also a good friend of my parents."

"Hi." Makani greeted them

"Hello."

"This is Sofia, she's the one I was always talking to you about." Lani pointed at Sofia, "These are her brother and sister, James and Amber." Lani started to introduce them one by one. Makani gave them a short tour on their way to the guest rooms

"This will be your rooms." Lani gestured at the treehouse-like structure, "And the boys will be staying at the one next to it."

"Okay, thanks." Sofia said

"I'll see you guys later. I'll have someone fetch you later when you're done." Lani said before leaving

"See ya." Makani waved goodbye and followed Lani

After they finally gotten enough rest, someone came like Lani told them and guided them to the dining room. It was like a big shack and it was a very open area. Amber said it was like having the tri-kingdom picnic but with a tropical twist. They ate together with Lani, Makani and also the king and queen. They talked about what happened on their adventure from the very beginning.

"So what's with the waves around this place?"

"How do you know about that? You weren't hit by it were you?" Halia worriedly asked

"Yes. We were hit on our way here. Sofia fell off but James managed to save her."

"Oh dear… we apologize for that. It wasn't supposed to happen like that since you had Lei-Lani with you." Kamea said

"Huh?"

"The waves were only supposed to hit people who are not from this land away from here so it wasn't supposed to do that to us since I was there." Lani explained

"Those are one of the things that magically protect our island and the people living in it." Makani added.

"So the magical barrier is one of those?"

"Yes… I have no idea what's been happening here lately. We've been losing the power of magic recently." Kamea stated.

"Our plants have been losing their liveliness. The magical spirit in our land is slowly disappearing. Magic is uncontrollable. It's not stable anymore. Something has gone terribly wrong and we don't know the cause of it." Halia sadly said

"It- could it be because of… my curse… is that the reason?" Sofia asked

"We are not sure but it's a high possibility since you are connected to the Amulet of Avalor which could be causing a problem in the magical core of the whole enchanted realm. I'm afraid that if we don't fix this… the enchanted realm will cease to exist." Kamea said

They all gasped.

"No. I-it can't be." Amber gasped

"We have to act fast." Hugo said.

"Right. We'll go to Avalor before sundown." James said.

"I'm afraid you can't do that." King Kamea said.

"Why not? That's the reason why we came here. Princess Cynthia said-" Sofia said but was cut off.

"Yes. We know, but you can't go… not yet." Queen Halia said

"The gateway to the kingdom Avalor only opens during the first sunrise after the full moon." Kamea explained.

"What? So we're stuck here?" Amber asked

"I'm afraid so, but do not worry. The moon will be full the day after tomorrow. And here in Hakalo we host a festival whenever the moon becomes full. We would like for you to join us in that celebration."

"Of course, we would love to." James smiled at them

"Oh yay! Good thing I always bring my sewing kit." Amber said. Her sewing skills have improved a lot since Sofia thought her. She rather enjoyed making her clothes actually.

"You can leave by that time, but for now we want you to rest. You all had a big journey and an even bigger one is about to come."

* * *

They all went to bed and rested. They all suddenly felt the feeling of being tired. It was probably because they haven't gotten a chance to get a proper rest in a long time. They all slept soundly, thinking that their adventure will soon be over.

The next morning, Lani decided to take them on a tour around the island because it will be a waste to finally visit Hakalo but not seeing any beautiful sights around it. Lani took them to the forest where Makani was preparing their picnic breakfast. Amber was really thrilled along with Clio and Hildegard because it felt like they were on an exotic vacation. Vivian was quietly reading a book and enjoying the peaceful scenery. Sofia was also glad because it felt like the things they did back home. And as for James and Zandar… they weren't as thrilled as Amber but were happy as well. It was a rare chance for them to go to a place they've never been before to just relax. Hugo was fine. He was never one to actually have fun in tea parties but he knew how to act in one. He was the princely as he used to be. Amber and Sofia just laughed at him and told him to loosen up and relax and just be himself cause there wasn't anyone else who was there for Hugo to show off to.

Afterwards they went to the waterfalls. Makani showed them a secret place behind the waterfall that he and Lani used to go to whenever they got bored in parties and other celebrations. Sofia laughed and remembered how James used to escape such gatherings and hang out in the secret garden instead and of course Sofia couldn't do anything except join him. That happened a lot until their parents kept watch of James so he wouldn't dare escape especially since he was at the age where he was supposed to be learning about ruling the kingdom and hosting such celebrations.

When they went further through the cave behind the waterfall, they ended up in a very magical place. It was a very beautiful garden filled with different plants they have never seen before. Some of the flowers were gold and had diamonds in them. The other flowers began to play music, along with the other plants. They couldn't help but dance to the music. Lani and Makani danced the traditional Hakalo dance. Sofia, Amber, and James noticed the dance look familiar and realized that it was the dance Lani did when she was in Enchancia. The three danced with them and copied their steps. The other princesses and princes were confused at first but seeing as they looked like they were enjoying themselves, the others decided to join as well.

Sofia felt like someone was watching them and asked the others to look around. They found nothing. Sofia thought it was her imagination but they all heared something move behind the bushes. Sofia went closer and closer, she moved the plants away and saw some frightened animals. Sofia talked to them and asked them to come out and they did. The others saw a bunch of animal come out with Sofia. They all played with the deer, bunnies, birds, squirrels, and other forest animals. The girls particularly adored the bunnies while the boys played around with the deer and their antlers. After a while they all said goodbye to their animal friends and went out of the cave. They saw that the moon was already up but not yet full. They didn't realize how long they've been there. They all rushed back to the village where a couple of angry and worried people will greet them. Afterwards they all ate dinner and went to bed.

As soon as they woke up the group went to the garden to play with their friends again. Amber, Clio and Hildegard had a tea party with some of the animals. James and Zandar were being their usual goofy selves. Vivian. Lei-Lani, and Makani went to play with the animals. Hugo was just standing in a corner staring at Sofia with a dejected look on his face. Sofia was walking around the garden with some of the animals. She carried a bunny that reminded her of Clover. It made her miss them more. Something shining from a distance caught her eye. She went to see what it was. As she got closer, it becomes brighter and brighter. James wondered what Sofia was doing and followed her. Sofia saw a flower made out of a colorful crystal with small diamonds on each petal that looked like they were dew drops. It shined more than Amber's jewelry. She touched it and noticed how it was soft like a normal flower. James suddenly appeared behind her.

"James?! You scared me." Sofia said

"Sorry Sof, what are you doing here anyway?" James asked

Sofia grabbed Jame's hand and pulled him to the flower. "James, look at this. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah… We should probably go, the others might be already looking for us."

Sofia nodded and they went back to their friends. They noticed that Amber, Clio, and Hildegard were cleaning up their tea party. The others were also preparing to leave.

"Oh, there you are…" Amber said and walked towards Sofia and James

"Are we leaving already?" Sofia asked

"Yes, the sun is about to go down and we need to prepare for the festival. And go to Avalor of course." Amber replied and went back to cleaning

They all went to their rooms and prepared for the festival. Amber quickly took out the clothes she made for them. Hildegard's dress was a long turquoise dress with flowers going around her body. Her hair was perfectly let down and Amber attached a lot of flowers on it. Clio's dress was the usual dark pink dress with a few of the tropical fabrics around it. Vivian's magenta dress was cut to a long evening gown. Sofia wrapped a long tropical fabric around Vivian's waist. Amber's dress was a golden off-shoulder gown with long sleeves and becomes more orange as it goes down the bottom. It was beaded with the finest stones in Hakalo and Enchancia. Amber's dress represented the sun itself. Sofia's gown was a simple lilac halter gown designed with flowers below her chest and beaded with the gems from Hakalo. She wore a flower necklace made from the most beautiful flowers in Hakalo. And her tiara had a diamond carved into a flower placed in the middle.

After they all finished preparing, they all headed to the center of the village where the celebration would be held. The festival was truly amazing. They set up a large bonfire in the center. The music was joyful and lively. James and Zandar really liked the sudden change. It was nice to experience something different from their usual parties. Even Amber liked it.

Sofia decided to rest for a while after all the dancing they did. She sat on one of the benches and watched everyone have fun. Hugo decided to finally have a proper talk with Sofia.

"Hey." Hugo said

"Hey." Sofia smiled back

"Mind if I join you?" Hugo asked

"Of course not." Sofia gestured Hugo to sit beside her

"It quite a celebration isn't it…"

"Yup."

"It's definitely unlike our parties. But it's a good thing…" Hugo said

Sofia nodded and continued to watch them. Hugo finally mustered up all of his courage to finally talk to Sofia about what happened back in the island.

"Look… Sofia… about what happened the other day."

"Yes?"

"I- my feelings still haven't changed Sofia. I still like you. I… I know that you might not accept my feelings right now… but I hope you will still think about it and perhaps give me a chance in the future when this is all over. Please let me continue loving you Sofia…."

"Hugo…"

"Please… can we at least make a deal?"

"…"

"When we return to Enchancia… I ask you to consider accepting my feeling… but if your answer is still 'no'… I want to receive a proper reason. Can we do that?"

Sofia thought about it for a while. Truthfully, right now she can't think of anything else other than curing her curse and saving the world. And she can't give Hugo false hope. She doesn't want to hurt him more than she already did. But knowing Hugo, he isn't one to give up easily unless he know that he no longer stands a chance. But perhaps…

"Okay."

Hugo beamed.

"But I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to reciprocate your feelings. I don't want to give false ho-"

"I know you don't want me to get hurt… but I want you to know that none of these will ever be your fault. I don't want you to feel responsible for anything. It's my decision to continue loving you. I was the one who took the risk even if it had a small chance." Hugo said before he bowed and walked away.

* * *

"Hey, Hildegard…"

"Yes Zandar?"

"Do you want me to get you anything, perhaps something to drink?"

"Well, I am kind of thirsty."

"Okay. Wait here and I'll get us some drinks." Zandar stood up and walked towards the buffet table.

"Hello Zandar." Lei-Lani suddenly approached him.

"Oh hello, Princess Lei-Lani." Zandar bowed

"Please, there's no need for such formal gestures, I'm just a simple person at heart."

"Umm… okay." Zandar nodded.

"It's quite a celebration, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes. I am."

"Then do you want to dance with me?"

"Oh… I'm taking care of Hildegard. I don't want to leave her alone."

"Come on. I'm sure Hildegard will understand. It's a party. You should be having fun."

"I am having fun…"

"You're having fun sitting around with a princess who is just using you?"

* * *

Meanwhile Hildegard was still waiting for Zandar.

"Geez, what's taking him so long?" Hildegard looked towards the buffet table and saw Zandar talking with Lei-Lani. _"What are talking about?" _Hildegard felt her heart beat strongly and somewhat painful. She didn't like it.

* * *

"She isn't using me. Sure, she often ignores my antics on trying to impress her. And I know that she might never return my feelings-"

"So why?"

"Because I love her. I can't leave her alone, not now."

"I like you Zandar."

"Princess Lei-Lani…"

"I like you. You're kind and brave. You care for the people around you. Yet she-"

"Is one of the kindest people I have ever met. Even though she always had that cold-hearted exterior, but I know that deep inside, she has a very kind and courageous heart who is always willing to help her friends and does her best in doing the things that she loves. Those are just few of the reasons why I love her so much all these years. Yes, it was just a crush when we were little but as I got to know her more, my feelings grew… and I'm sorry Princess Lei-Lani but I cannot accept your feelings."

"I-I… I understand. I'm sorry I bothered you." Lei-Lani began to walk away as tears formed in her eyes but Zandar suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Lani… thank you… for telling me your feelings." Zandar beamed at her.

Lei-Lani couldn't help but smile back and nodded before taking her wrist back and walked away. Zandar went back to where Hildegard was.

"Hey." Zandar handed Hildegard her drink.

"What took you so long Zandar? I thought I was going to die of thirst… and boredom."

Zandar laughed.

"So… I saw you talking with Princess Lei-Lani."

"Oh…"

"What did you guys talk about?"

"Uhh… well she sort of asked me to dance with her… then she kind of told me that she… l-l-likes me…"

"A-and?" Hildegard felt the pain in her heart again, _"What's happening? Why? Is this jealousy?! No, it can't be…"_

"I rejected her."

"Y-you did? Why? She seems like a very nice girl."

"She is but…"

"But?"

"But… I'm in love with someone else. I've liked that person for a long time and that will never change even if my feelings won't ever be returned."

Hildegard smiled and felt… relieved?, "Hmm… I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you…" she said as she rested her head on Zandar's shoulder.

* * *

Lani was resting on top of a tree, thinking about what happened with Zandar but her thoughts were stopped when someone called her.

"Lani!" Makani called as he climbed up the tree

"M-Makani?"

"Hey. I figured you'd be here."

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the party?"

"Well, why aren't you there?"

"Hmm…" Lani hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees.

"What happened? Come on you can tell me… I'm your best friend after all."

"I-I like someone." Lani sat beside Makani

"Oh?"

"And I was rejected by that person."

"Lani…"

"It's weird… I'm hurt yet somehow I couldn't get angry at him even though he rejected me. I even felt… relief… like a heavy burden was finally lifted yet the soreness from lifting it remained."

"Why did he reject you?"

"He likes someone else. And that person is much prettier, more graceful, more elegant, and more princess-like than I am, so who wouldn't like her more…"

"Don't be silly Lani. You are pretty… you're beautiful. Sure, you're not like the other princess but that what makes you, you Lani. You're kind, intelligent, and one of the most caring people that I know. You give it your all to help the people you love. That's what makes you a true princess Lani, remember? It wasn't fancy gowns, or gracefulness, or princess etiquettes that made the royal family of Enchancia realize that you're a princess… it's what's inside of you that makes you a very special girl."

"Makani…" Lani embraced Makani, "Thank you…"

* * *

Hugo was sitting on the benches and watch the people of Hakalo danced their traditional dances. Some of his friends joined in as well, he enjoyed watching them have fun. He saw Amber dancing along. Never in a million years would he thought of Amber dancing in a very ridiculous way. He saw Amber gestured him to join but he declined. Amber sighed but gave him a smile. She stoped dancing and sat down beside him.

"Whoo! It's really fun, why won't you join us?"

"Nah, I prefer to stay here and watch… I'm already having fun watching you dance in such a ridiculous manner." Hugo smirked at Amber.

Amber blushed, "Did not! I was copying the dance of the people of Hakalo."

"Well, really I thought you were just going crazy." Hugo laughed.

"Whatever… I'm glad you're feeling alright now."

"Yeah…"

"You've talked to my sister?"

"Yeah, I have." Hugo nodded his expression changed into a pained one.

"And?"

"I told her that I will still keep on loving her even though I know that she will never love me back."

"Did you tell her?"

"About 'that' person?"

Amber nodded.

"No… it's something she has to realize on her own."

"Sometimes I don't know if you're really smart or just being an idiot."

"Ouch."

Amber laughed.

"Amber…"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me with Sofia."

"What help? You didn't even get what you wanted."

"No, I didn't but you gave me the courage to tell her how I felt for her… I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for your help. Even though I got rejected… I'm happy. I at least got her to know the feelings that I've been hiding for a long time. Now, I can finally breathe easy… thank you."

"No need… I didn't do anything after all… it was you who did it, you just need a little push. You're a very brave person and I knew that you had a lot of courage in your heart, I just helped you let it out. You're strong and kind… a bit stubborn, but a really caring person deep inside. You often have that heartless exterior and emotionless mask on your face… but I know that there ore to that than just that. You were once filled with pride, jealousy, and anger… I understood what you were feeling at that time that's why I believed that you will also move on and accept yourself for who you truly are. And Sofia made us both realize those things."

"So you never believed that I was a bad guy?"

"No… just a spoiled brat…" Amber chuckled, "But that's in the past… we've changed… all of us." She said as she smiled at Hugo, "You're a great guy Hugo… you just have to realize that yourself."

Hugo's heart began to beat loudly and fast. He could feel himself getting warmer. But why? What was happening to Hugo? Was he sick or something?

"Now, come on and let's dance!" Amber pulled Hugo's arm towards the bonfire.

Before Hugo realized what was happening, Amber was already dancing. Hugo sighed in defeat and just joined her.

* * *

Sofia was still sitting down where she and Hugo had talked. Sofia was trying so hard to think about it, but no matter what she thought, it wasn't going to work. She couldn't see herself with Hugo. He's a very good friend to Sofia… but something more than that, she just couldn't see it happening. Why? Why was this happening to her? She was struck with a curse. Her life was in danger and now the whole magical realm was in danger. Why did this happen to her? Why do these kinds of thing always happen to her? It was the curse's fault. Why couldn't have things stayed the same? Why couldn't she have just lived peacefully with her family? What did she do to deserve this? Hugo wouldn't have confessed. Amber wouldn't be so hurt. And she wouldn't have these kinds of thoughts about-

"Sofia?"

"J-James…"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're not a very good liar, Sofia."

Sofia stared at the ground.

"Come on Sof. Tell me what's bothering you…" James said as he sat down beside her.

Sofia flinched. James seemed to have noticed this.

"Sofia."

"I-it's nothing. You don't have to worry about me."

"But I want to. I want to be there for you Sof, whenever you are troubled. Especially now."

Sofia remained silent and her eyes were starting to glisten. James decided that this wasn't the best place to talk. James took her hand and pulled her to a secluded area. It was a field that that filled with flowers. They were shining magnificently as the moonlight beamed directly at them. Sofia gazed upon the beautiful view and a soft smile began to form in her lips.

"Better?" James asked

Sofia nodded.

"I'm not going to force you to tell me your problem… but I want you to know that I'm here for you." James assured her.

Sofia and James sat down in silence in the middle of the field. Both of them staring into the majestic sight in front of them. Sofia finally calmed down after a while and broke the silence.

"Hugo…"

"Hmm?"

"Hugo confessed to me the other day. He told me… that he was… in love with me… for a long time."

"I know."

"Oh… wait. You know? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"Because it wasn't my place to tell you. It was his choice on whether he will tell you or not. And it seems he did."

"_James knew?! Yet why does he look fine with it? Why didn't do anything? Wait. Did I want him to do something?" _Sofia thought.

"And? What was your reply?"

"I-I told him that I couldn't accept his feelings… but earlier he said that he wasn't giving up. He wanted to continue having these feelings for me. And after this adventure is over and we go back to Enchancia, he would ask me again and if I still haven't changed my mind by then, he would give up and move on."

"I see."

"I didn't want to give him false hope but he insisted… he told me not to take fault but-"

"He's right Sofia."

"Huh?"

"It's not your fault. It was his choice to fall for you and his decision to keep these feelings. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"But Amber-"

"Amber?"

"She…"

"Is in love with Hugo."

"You knew about that too?"

"I kinda suspected it for a while even before we went on this adventure. She didn't talk badly about him unlike some of our classmates. She never purposely ignored him. She would still invite him to her parties even though he didn't attend in the end. I know she invited him because I saw her invitation list. I wasn't sure at first until she told me."

"She told you? When?"

"Back in the island after you and Hugo-" James immediately covered his mouth.

"Me and Hugo what?" Sofia looked at James who was avoiding her gaze, "What James?"

James sighed, "I saw Hugo confess to you that day. I followed Amber because she was acting strange and you haven't returned that time. I thought Amber would know, then I saw you by the lake."

"You saw… everything. And you still asked me why, when you already knew."

"I only knew what I saw. I don't know what you were thinking or feeling at that time so I asked. I didn't want to judge what happened based on what I saw. But you're right… I'm also at fault. I' m sorry I didn't say anything about it."

"I don't blame you… I just couldn't believe that I didn't see it with my own eyes. Have I always been this blind?"

"No. He's just good at hiding his feelings."

"Really? Then how come Amber knew. You knew. I bet our friends also knew." Sofia pointed out.

"Well, some of them are just that observant."

"Why did this have to happen to us?" Sofia mumbled.

"Sofia…"

"I'm hurting everybody I hold dear. Amber, Hugo… and now the whole is now at stake. And it's my fault."

"No. It's not your fault. You weren't the one who placed that curse on you. You didn't ask for this to happen. It's not your fault and we all know that."

"You're right… I didn't ask for any of this to happen. I didn't ask for this amulet either!" Sofia grasped her amulet tightly, "I didn't ask for this! And it still happened! I was just a simple village girl! I wasn't meant to be a princess!" Sofia burst into tears.

James grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. Sofia struggled but James refused to let go. Sofia was crying loudly. Her tears didn't stop. They sat there for a while. James waited for Sofia to calm down.

"James… I'm okay now." Sofia looked at James who loosened his grip on Sofia but did not completely release her, "I'm sorry I acted this way… I… I don't know what came over me."

James smiled at her, "Don't worry about it Sofia… I know that you are the one who is most pressured by the events that happened out of all of us. But Sofia, I don't want you to carry that burden all to yourself… you have your friends, your family, and me to support you. You're not alone Sofia. No matter what… I'll always be there for you, you know that right?" James said as he rested his chim on top of Sofia's head.

Sofia's heart started to beat fast and loud. It was very loud she could barely hear her thoughts. What was happening to her? Why? Her heart couldn't calm down. Why was her heart reacting like this to James? Her heart was getting louder and louder… and she was too close to James. He could probably hear her heartbeat. But James was actually oblivious to it as his heart was beating just as loud and fast.

"Sofia, you okay?" James held Sofia's shoulder and looked her in the eye.

"_Did his eyes always shined brightly like this? How come I never noticed before? Wait a minute. Why am I thinking like this?"_ Sofia snapped out of her thoughts when James shouted.

"Sofia!"

"Huh? What?"

"Thank goodness… I worried I thought something was happening to you again because of the curse."

"N-no… sorry. I was just lost in thought I guess…"

"Hmm? What were you thinking about?"

"Ah… n-n-nothing! Nothing that important. No need to worry about it."

"Really?"

"Really. Thank you James."

"For what?"

"Everything. You saved my life a lot of time while we were in this journey. You offered your shoulder for me to cry on. You were by my side always. You supported me. You were always there." Sofia

"And I will continue to be there for you. Sofia… I… you… I… I lo-" James was cut off when they heard someone shout.

"Sofia?! James?! Where are you?!" they heard Amber's voice. They also heard their other friends calling them.

James groaned, _"Why do things like this keep happening?"_

"We're over here!" Sofia replied.

Soon their friends found them and hurried over to them.

"Sofia, James… we were looking all over for you."

"Why? Did something happen?" James asked.

"No, but something important is about to." Amber responded and smiled at them.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey guys! I know it's been a very very very long time since I last update. A million sorry! **

**I hope that you guys will still continue to support this story. And I hope I'll be able to hear from you more until the very last chapter. **

**OMG! I can't believe that I'm still in chapter 9. Urgh, I'm such a slow and lazy person. Sorry. Anyways, I still have 10 more chapters to go. I hope you stay with me until the very end of this story. I would just like to thank everyone who supported and continued reading this story up to this day. Thank you for being very patient with me.**

**Urgh and another Sofia movie is about to show. I have to remind you guys that this is not, I repeat this is not related to the upcoming movie **_**Sofia the First: Journey to Avalor **_**or the spin-off series **_**Elena of Avalor. **_**This fanfiction was made before they even announced these shows.**

**I haven't watched Sofia the First for a long time. I haven't watched the half of the 2nd season so I don't know what happened since then so I'm still writing the characters based on what I still know. I read about Lei-Lani's family having powers and such when she returned in a new episode but I haven't watched that so I didn't make the kingdom of Hakalo based on the episode, but I did get the names of the king and queen.**

**Now to answer some of your questions:**

**This is from Guest: **I love this but I'm a bit confused... I thought this was a Hugo and Amber pairing? :/ good story tho

**Yes, this is a Hugo/Amber pairing. I just wrote that Hugo was in love with Sofia at first but since he realized that Sofia is in love with someone else. He will learn to accept it and soon falls for Amber. I made it like that to show the character's progression.**

**I write these stories not just for fun but also to show you guys the hardships, joys, rewards you gain from love. And sometimes these are really good advices, especially if it's your first love and things didn't work out, it doesn't mean that you will be alone. It just means that the right person hasn't come for you yet, but that you shouldn't rush into things. It takes time to find the one for you. And this is something that Hugo will soon learn and I hope you guys will too.**

**And for the second question which is from Elsa: **okay. this is practically the best stf fic i read so far. characters are so into their personalities and your grammar is so good. If by any chance u do a request, can u do a hugo x vivian one pls? all in all, this is amazing. cant wait for update

**First, I would like to thank you for liking this fanfic. I'm so glas you enjoyed reading it. Now, for your question if I could do a Hugo/Vivian fanfic… I have to admit that it's quite a challenge, but I definitely would love to try and write one. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**

**It's finally the BIG REVEAL!**

**Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

Chapter 10

"And I will continue to be there for you. Sofia… I… you… I… I lo-" James was cut off when they heard someone shout.

"Sofia?! James?! Where are you?!" they heard Amber's voice. They also heard their other friends calling them.

James groaned, _"Why do things like this keep happening?"_

"We're over here!" Sofia replied.

"Sofia, James… we were looking all over for you."

"Why? Did something happen?" James asked.

"No, but something important is about to." Amber responded and smiled at them.

* * *

"Father! Mother!" Lei-Lani shouted and her parents turned around to see their daughter arrive along with the other princes and princesses.

"Finally, you're here." Said the king

"Yes, we had a bit of trouble finding Sofia and James."

"I see… but the good thing is that you're all here and the ray of the full moon is about to open the door to Avalor." King Kamea said.

"So now you must hurry and get your things so we can arrive there early." Queen Halia instructed them.

They all nodded before going back to their rooms. Once they were all prepared, Makani and Lei-Lani called them. They all went to the shore where they saw a huge ship, similar to the floating palace but smaller and more tropical, that would take them to a very small island where the gateway to Avalor was located. The king and queen were already on the ship waiting for them. As soon as they all got on the ship, they sailed towards the small island.

They arrived to a placed where it had a very different feeling. Just like any island, it had trees and plants of different kinds. It was rather muddy in some part which Amber tried to bear with and was thankful she was wearing boots. It did not have any structures or building made. It didn't even had a bridge created as a path from the main island to there. They wondered why and the king and queen answered that it was not possible for the island was protected by a magical barrier that prevents any changes to be made to it. They couldn't build any houses or bridges to it for magical nature was the one protecting it. Sofia realized what that meant because even their footprints immediately disappeared in the ground.

"We're here." The king announced.

The exhausted princes and princesses looked up and saw a very beautiful and gigantic tree in front of them. There was a big majestic crystal-like door attached to the tree. It was an arch-shaped door with vines and leaves that were sort of made of glass and roses made of bright diamond. In the middle of the door there was a structure that was shaped like a heart and a butterfly shaped hole with a mirror inside. They saw the moon shone directly below them and slowly it moved towards the door. Slowly it was directly on the heart and beamed on the mirror inside the butterfly. The light reflected on every glass-like leaves and on the roses, it reflected back to the mirror. They all covered their eyes and looked away from the tree. The door began to open and revealed a portal to Avalor. The princes and princesses cheered that they were finally going to Avalor. They turned around to say goodbye to their friends.

"Thank you so much for all your help." Sofia smiled gratefully to them.

"I hope you can finally cure the curse Princess Sofia and save the magical kingdom. The kingdom of Hakalo wishes you all the best." King Kamea said as he gently placed his hand on Sofia's shoulder.

"You are welcome to return any time you want." Queen Halia smiled as she gave a bracelet with an emerald engraved on it, "This is similar to the Emerald key, you can use it to find your way back here… but of course we will be the ones to open the door for you."

"Thank you Queen Halia." Sofia hugged the queen before turning to Lani.

"Good luck out there Sofia. I'm sorry that I cannot accompany you on your journey, but I know you'll do great… you have such amazing friends with you after all." Lani said as she hugged Sofia.

Sofia nodded and joined her friends. They waved goodbye to them before preparing themselves to the portal. The king, queen, Lani and Makani did the special gesture of Hakalo that meant 'Until we meet again' and the princes and princesses also did. Hildegard saw Lei-Lani sadly smile at Zandar, she ran towards Lei-Lani and hugged her. Lei-Lani was surprised by the sudden gesture.

"I know you liked him a lot… and I'm sorry… but I like him too… a lot. Even so, don't give up on falling in love again… and perhaps this time that person will be the one to fully love you back…"

"I… I will… thank you…" Lei-Lani said as a small tear fell from her eye.

Hildegard let go of Lei-Lani and smiled at her, "And who knows… maybe that person was in front of you all along… you just have to look at the right direction." Hildegard grinned as she looked at Makani and winked at him, who heard everything and turned slightly red but Lani didn't notice because he was standing behind her. Hildegard giggled at his expression. Lani was completely clueless.

"Hildegard!" Zandar called as he went to fetch her, "Geez… what were you thinking running off like that. You're still injured."

"Yeah, sorry about that… I just had to say goodbye to Lei-Lani first… now shall we go?" Hildegard smiled as she wrapped her arm around Zandar's.

"Uh… okay…" Zandar who was confused just nodded and went to catch up with their friends.

They all stepped into the portal together and stood still as the portal transported them to the unknown world of Avalor. As they stepped into the portal, their heads stated to spin. They tried to steady themselves but the pressure was too much. It felt like they were being sucked into a whirlpool and eventually they were all unconscious. Sofia was the first to open her eyes. Her head hurt a bit and her vision was a bit fuzzy. Then she looked at her surroundings, wondering where she was. She remembered that she and her friends went through the gateway to Avalor. Sofia immediately sat up and looked for her friends. She noticed that they were behind her, still unconscious. She woke up Amber and James.

"James, Amber, wake up." said Sofia and she shook them so they would wake up.

"S-Sofia?" Amber finally woke up. She rubbed her eyes and gave out a yawn. "Where are we?"

"We're here. Help me wake the others." Sofia informed Amber, who was still trying to register what happened while Sofia went to James, "James, wake up already. Amber, help me wake the others."

Amber nodded and went to wake up the others. "Hugo, get up. Clio, Hildegard."

"Sofia... Urgh my head hurts. A-are we in Avalor?" James asked and rubbed his head.

"Yeah... Come on let's wake the others so we can go." Sofia grabbed James's arm and helped him stand up. James went to wake Zandar, who then woke up Hildegard. Sofia helped Vivian who still had a nasty headache since she wasn't used the whole experience. Amber did the same with Hugo and Clio. Hugo was hit on his head with his things when they fell down and made quite a bruise. Amber became really worried. She grabbed the first aid kit from Sofia's bag and tried to temporarily treat the wound. Hugo told Amber not to worry so much about it so he was scolded by Amber and told him that he was really stubborn. The others tried not to laugh at the comment but failed. Once they were done collecting their things and composed themselves they looked around the room trying to find the correct way out.

The room they went to was pretty big. I was sort of round and had several doors on different side. The castle was made of lilac and ice blue crystal-like walls. It had a gigantic chandelier hanging from the ceiling, most of them were made of shiny glass and it had a diamond in the middle so the light shined directly on the diamond and it reflected the light on each of the glass making it glow much brighter. The floor was made of perfectly white and shiny marble that one can even see his own reflection. Amber used it happily as a mirror to fix herself up.

"So…" Hugo started making the others look at him. "Which way do we go?"

"Don't know…" James shook his head before turning to Sofia, "What do you think Sof?"

"…I-"

Before Sofia could even answer, the door in front of them opened, revealing a beautiful lady enter the room. She had long platinum hair and silver gray eyes that were very familiar to James and Sofia… too familiar…

"Princess Cynthia?!" they exclaimed.

"Well hello there… I welcome you to the Kingdom of Avalor." She smiled at them.

"Princess Cynthia… so we're really in Avalor now?"

"Yes. The royal palace of Avalor to be exact." Princess Cynthia nodded.

"OMG! We're here! We're finally here! This is so a-mazing." Sofia cheered and the others joined her.

"I can't believe it! We can finally cure you Sofia." Amber hugged Sofia, tightly.

"Y-yeah… Amber… can't… breathe…"

Amber immediately let go of Sofia, "Oops sorry, got a bit excited there."

"It's fine Amber… I'm glad too." Sofia giggled

"I understand that you are all excited. I'm also relieved that you are now finally here… but I'm afraid your journey hasn't ended yet. We still have to find a cure for Sofia. And it's impossible to create it without the book."

"Can't we just cast a spell on her or make a potion to remove the curse?" Amber asked, hoping that there was an easier way to solve the problem.

"I'm afraid that's too risky Princess Amber. Using a spell or potion to counteract the curse without knowing the exact substances they used in the curse, there is a high possibility that it might backfire and make it worse." Princess Cynthia sighed disappointingly, "I wish there was. We tried looking for a way… but all of our best sorcerers couldn't do it. We need the book."

They all sighed sadly.

"Then we better hurry and find it." James said.

"And we will, but we will have to start tomorrow. I know that you are all tired… you'll need to rest. We can start tomorrow when you've all gotten your strengths back."

"But—" James couldn't help but feel that they should be doing something. He felt like they would be wasting their time if they don't search for the book right away. But deep inside he admitted that Princess Cynthia was right… they were all tired from their journey. They all needed to rest.

"Not buts… I'm the ruler here and what I say goes. Okay?" Cynthia smiled playfully at them.

James sighed in defeat and nodded. He knew himself that if he exert himself any further he would collapse and he knew that they would worry about them, especially Sofa. And he didn't want to stress her more than she already was.

"Good… I will personally take you to each of your rooms. Don't worry they're all next to each other, so you don't have to worry about each other's condition. I'm sure you all miss having your comfortable spaces since you've been travelling together for quite a long time." Princess Cynthia announced as she lead the group towards the hall.

"Yes… thank you so much." Sofia said.

"We really appreciate it." Clio nodded.

"Finally! It's been such a long time since I've slept in a personal bed, and a perfect bubble bath, a spa…" Hildegard was then lost in her daydream. Clio tried to snap her out of it. The others chuckled at it.

"I hope you will all feel at home during your stay here. I had the sorcerers 'redecorate' your rooms that will best fit your style of your homes. I hope you'll like it."

Cynthia led them around the castle. They passed by the hallway with large windows on the side, seeing the view of the garden. It was filled with different flowers and plants, some were even rare yet it didn't look that way because they had so many of each kind. The moon glowed directly at the small pond making it seem like magic. It was calm and peaceful. They all stared at awe at the magnificent view. They went to the third floor and they saw a very large room filled with statues and paintings and portraits. Cynthia told them that it was the royal museum of the royal family of Avalor through generations. Sofia noticed a portrait that was covered with a black fabric, but didn't ask Cynthia about it. They entered another huge room similar to the one they ended up when they first arrived. It had eight doors, excluding the one they used to enter the room. Each door had their names engraved on them. They all ran to each of the doors with their names on it. They took a deep breath before opening the doors at the same time and looking at their rooms. They all gasped happily as they entered each of their rooms.

Zandar's room had an Arabian themed bedroom. It had a large carpet in the center of the room. It had a large canopy bed with a dozen pillows. Hanging lanterns with different designs were placed all over the room. He noticed that there were also flying carpet like the ones he had in Tangu.

Vivian's room was a slight gothic design. The large bed was dark pink and the curtains were in a lighter color. A chest was placed in front of the bed. The rest of her room had a rather simple design. A closet was placed on the corner and a desk on the other side. Vivian saw a mandolin on top of the chest. She took it and sat down on one of the chairs beside the table close to the window. She started to play a soft tune while gazing at the room in front of her. She missed playing music with her mandolin.

Amber's room was mainly gold. Her bedroom represented the sun itself. The queen sized bed was marigold with a dozen dandelion colored pillows. Her favourite part of the room was her closet. It had different kinds of gowns and shoes and of course… tiaras. Amber squealed gleefully at the sight of it. She had a sofa by the window and bookshelves at the side. In the center of the room had a small table with chairs and a tea set placed on the table. On another part of her room was a crafting table with a sewing machine and spinning wheel. It also had a bunch of fabrics on the side and on the table were a set of needles and threads. A desk with a large mirror was also placed beside her bed. Amber sat down and began to fix her hair.

Hugo's was a usual royal bedroom, but with more of his athletic equipment. It had different kinds of flying derby saddles. Some were fencing swords and other equipment. He personally liked the sets of roller skates placed in his closet since there wasn't any snow that time. But he spotted a pair of ice skates, they were striking dark ice blue with thin maroon stokes as a design. He liked it a lot and can't wait to have a chance to use it in the ice rink. His room also had a large sofa near the window and a few bookshelves. He looked at the books and decided to read one that best interested him. He relax on his circular hanging bed and read the book.

Clio's was mostly magenta and teddy bears with other cute things. It had butterflies painted on the wall. The bed was filled with cute and cuddly stuffed animals. Painting materials and equipment were in a part of her room. It had an odd platform in the middle of her room and wondered what it was for. She looked inside her closet and it was filled with gowns, shoes, tiaras, and fans. She saw another room and looked inside. She gasped with much joy. The room was full of all kinds of costumes and props. She realized that the platform was a stage. She noticed a small bookshelf beside her bed. She looked at them and realized that most of them were used in theatrical plays. She began reading them with fascination.

Hildegard's was filled with gems and jewel as designs. Her room sparkled all over. If the sun rayed on them, the whole room would be shining a hundred times brighter. The floor was like glass, it was done really well that one can even see their own reflection. Her closet was full of magnificent dresses. All were designed with simple and elegant gemstones. Her canopy bed was light turquoise and pillows were like clouds. She saw a white wheelchair with golden wheels and handle placed beside the bed. Hildegard was amazed that Princess Cynthia already got her a wheelchair even though they've just arrived in Avalor. She reminded herself to thank her later.

James's had an ocean blue theme. The bed was in a shape of a small pirate ship. The walls were painted as the sea. Cannons mostly filled a part of the room, which made James jump all over the room. Apparently his obsession which cannons still hadn't changed over the years. There were also swords and other types of armory displayed in the room. There was even a treasure chest placed in front of her bed. He began to reminisce the days he would goof around the castle. This room reminded him so much of who he was or who he still is deep inside. He was still the young boy no matter how much he grew up or how much he became mature and responsible… he was still James.

Sofia's room has a lilac like the flower. It was a simple room jus he way she liked it. It didn't have any extravagant feature like she imagined what Amber might have. There was a simple purple bed like the one she had back in Enchancia. A long sofa by the window and a chest with different books and crafts. There was also a small table with chairs, a wardrobe, a vanity desk, a bookcase, and some decorations. She walked towards a large window and realized that it was a door to the balcony. She opened it and let the cold breeze touch her cheeks.

"So did you like it?" Princess Cynthia asked.

"Yes!" they all replied.

"I love my room! It's similar to my old room back in Enchancia." Amber squealed.

"I feel very much at home here."

"I'm glad you're all comfortable here. I'll check up on you in the morning then we can discuss about our plans for tomorrow. Good night." Cynthia said as she left the room.

They all changed their closed and finally slept peacefully in the night.

* * *

The nest morning, Cynthia woke them up and told them to get prepared for breakfast. They all ate breakfast together.

"Sofia, how long have you been travelling?"

"Uh… I'm not sure." Sofia answered softly.

"We kinda lost track." James said, "I didn't have the chance to count the days."

"Cause it seemed like forever!" Amber whinned.

"It looked like we still had more time since the flower still has more parts that are still white."

"Then we better find out how much time we have left." Cynthia stood up and walked out of the room for the others to follow.

* * *

"So let's trace back to when Sofia first got struck by the curse…"

"The first day was when Sofia was cursed and when we met you… then the second we met with Princess Lei-Lani, since the gateway to Avalor is in Hakalo."

"Then we went on a voyage towards a Hakalo but then we ended up in an island… I have no idea how long we were there."

"Yes, and there was also the time when Hugo, Sofia, and I got separated and met Christopher and Ardebit… who knows how long we've been in their territory."

"Wat… you've met Ardebit and Christopher?"

"Y-yes… you know them?"

"Yes, I do… Ardebit and… Sir C-Christopher." Said Cynthia, who tried to hide the blush forming on her face but was in vain as it was really noticeable to the young ones as she mentioned the dark blond man's name, "I was the one who asked them to be the guardians of that island or more specifically the crystals that lie in that island."

"I think Christopher mentioned that before… how did they know about me?" Sofia said.

"I talked to them about it… they are my most trusted friends after all."

"And one of them is apparently more than a friend." Zandar whispered to James and the others who were near him as they giggled.

"Why? What's so special about those crystals anyway?" Hildegard asked.

"Those are no ordinary crystals, they are magical gemstones that some are about to be extinct… the Amulet of Avalor was created using these crystals." Cynthia answered.

"So more magical trinkets could be made like the Amulet of Avalor?" Clio asked.

"Yes, there are many other magical pendants, rings, bracelets but there is only one Amulet of Avalor… it cannot be created multiple times." Cynthia explained.

"Why not?" Vivian wondered out loud.

"Because the Amulet of Avalor contains a stone that no longer exists in this world except for the amulet… it is the magical core of Avalor."

"What?"

"It is like a small stone but it contains the life that controls the fate of Avalor."

"What? Why would you risk doing something like that? Turning it into an amulet that anyone can just grab and use for personal gain." Amber asked.

"We didn't have a choice… my ancestors… years ago… many many years ago, Avalor was the ruling kingdom in the magical realm… in fact it was the very first land to become a kingdom, we were the birthplace of magic. Then we proposed to make Hakalo its own kingdom. My ancestors were great friends with the royal family of Hakalo and trusted them with everything. They even gave them magical powers. Then another kingdom was born, Enchancia. We were glad to have them. And we also trusted them a lot and presented them with magic. As the years passed more kingdoms rose... Sagax, Friezenburg, Tangu, and a lot more… we were all at peace with each other. There were no conflict, no wars between the kingdoms. Everything was perfect… until one day Avalor was attacked, there was a big argument on who attacked us… they thought it was from one of the kingdoms but we weren't sure. So the king and queen of Avalor decided to hide Avalor from all of the kingdoms, taking the magic with them but not all of it. The high mages of Avalor decided that in case another attack were to happen, they would protect the magical core of Avalor so no matter how dangerous the attack would be… the life of Avalor would remain and can still rebuilt the world. They placed it in an Amulet and gave it to the kingdom of Enchancia. There was a high risk but they did it anyway. You see, all of the kingdoms are connected to the core of Avalor and if it was damaged the realm would also suffer. That's why it needs to be protected… no one from outside of Avalor knows about this… until now." Cynthia explained.

"So they did this because if another war broke out and they somehow destroyed the core… they would be destroying the world…" James concluded.

"That is correct. That's why the amulet is indestructible but also fragile."

"Oh…"

"Now you know… but let's continue what we were discussing before, shall we?" Cynthia said to change the subject. They figured she didn't want to talk about such things anymore so they decided to leave it at that.

"R-right… so since we were I the cave… we had no idea how long we've been there." James stated.

"Yes, but we weren't." Amber said.

"That's right. Now if I remember correctly we were in that island for eight days… including the day we were shipwrecked." Zandar said as he counted the days in his head.

"Right… then we stayed in Hakalo for three days and arrived here in Avalor on the third night." Hildegard added.

"Which makes this another full day." Zandar finished.

"So that means… one… two… five… ten… fourteen?!" Hugo exclaimed after he counted with his fingers.

"That means Sofia you only have sixteen days left." Cynthia declared with a worried expression.

"Two weeks?! That's all we have left?!" James stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Two weeks and two days, James." Amber corrected James.

James ignore Amber and continued, "We have to act fast." James was shaking but he didn't let it show. He was worried… afraid. Would they be able to figure it out in two weeks? He was losing hope but stayed strong.

"I agree… we'll start with the library since it's the only lead we have. I'm not sure if we can even find something… I, along with the servants, have been looking at that place for days and found nothing. But perhaps you can notice something… it's the only plan we've got."

* * *

The library was… big. Really big… really really really big. If it were compared to Princess Belle's library in her castle, this library would be ten times bigger. The princes and princesses were all stunned.

"Whoa…"

"How can we search something I here?! It's huge!" Clio commented.

"I guess, it's natural since it had books from the beginning of time till now…" Sofia stated and looked around the place.

"This is going to take forever!" Amber complained.

"Not necessarily, Princess Amber… the ancient books of magic are in here." Cynthia gestured to a door. She waved her hand over it and it began to glow and open. "Let's go."

The room was as big as they had expected but with was still pretty big. It was probably as big as Amber's closet and that itself is really big. Cynthia walked towards a glass case with dark purple strokes in the corners.

"This is where the book was locked in. Careful not to touch it." Cynthia said.

"I see… so it's really gone."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Okay… let's start looking for clues and read some books that can give us a lead to who could've taken it or something about Sofia's curse." James said.

They spent the whole day reading ancient books which some were really difficult to understand because some were written in Latin or another language. Some just looked like some funny drawings. They realized why the servants couldn't find anything. They searched for days. They searched every corner, high and low… but found nothing. They looked for anything with the word black or thorns. They looked for the symptoms in every book. They even took the chance to search outside of the room and to the huge library. They did everything they could think of. Even the most ridiculous thing, they did it. But all they got is nothing. It was their fourth day in Avalor meaning they only had thirteen days left. It was less than two weeks. They were all frustrated and worried, especially James. They finally got to Avalor but it seemed like a dead end for them. It was nearly sundown. They watched as the sun set, and stared at it as if their light of hope was disappearing. The flower on Sofia's wrist was becoming darker and only a bit of light was left.

James looked away and walked out of the room. He stood on a corner of the library with different glass cases. He was so frustrated and angry. He was angry… at himself… he was useless he thought to himself. He wasn't able to do anything. They were running out of time. He promised himself. He promised Sofia that he would save her. Out of anger he slammed his fist on the glass case and it shattered into a million pieces. Then that's when it hit him.

_"Someone broke into our kingdom and stole the sacred ancient book. We don't know who it is. We don't even know when they did it since we hardly check the library since there's a great creature guarding it but apparently, whoever stole it had great magic since he or she was able to tame this creature."_

The others heard the crash and immediately went to where the noise came from. They saw James with his fist in the broken glass and bits of his blood dripping from his hand.

"James! What are you doing?!" Sofia shouted which snapped James out of his thoughts.

"Sofia?" James said calmly.

"Are you alright? Your hand-" Sofia ran towards James and looked at his hand.

James raised his hand and noticed that it was bleeding.

"Oh. Sorry."

"'Oh'? 'Oh'?! Your hand is injured and that's all you have to say."

"What happened?" Cynthia walked towards them as she looked at the damage.

She saw James with his hand bleeding and Sofia standing next to him.

"Let me see that." Cynthia gently took James's hand and analysed it. She put her other hand over it and magically healed it.

"Thanks." James said

"James, what were you thinking hitting that glass?" Sofia frantically asked. She was furious and incredibly worried.

"I wasn't. But that's not important right now. I think I found a clue." James said

"What do you mean it's not important, you- wait… you found something?"

James nodded before turning to Cynthia, "Princess Cynthia."

"Yes?"

"You said something about a creature protecting the book… where is it?"

They returned to the glass case where the book used to be.

"The creature I told you about is the glass case itself." Princess Cynthia said.

"What do you mean?" Hugo asked.

"Can you come over here?" Cynthia requested.

Hugo nodded and slowly went beside the princess.

"Now… raise your hand over the glass, no need to touch it just above it." She ordered.

Hugo nodded and did what he was told, "What now- AAAAAHHHHHH!"

The purple strokes suddenly wrapped its tentacles around Hugo's wrist. Another wrapped his legs together making him fall to the ground. The other's gasped in horror. Hugo felt that it was hot… burning. It was melting the fabric on his wrist and feet. If it stays any longer it's going to melt his skin.

Then Princess Cynthia touched the purple tentacles with her glowing hand and calmed the creature. It immediately let go of Hugo and returned to the glass case. Hugo stepped away from the case.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" Hugo shouted.

"That was the creature protecting the ancient book. He's also my favourite pet."

"I would never have a pet like that!"

"What animal is it?" Sofia asked

Cynthia raised her arm and the creature removed itself from the case and to the princess's wrist. It transformed into a beautiful bird with shining lilac wings, "His name is Earl. It's a violet phoenix. He can morph into anything. Earl is the one who guards all of the ancient curses. These kind of creatures are said to be very loyal to its masters, and it will attack anyone who isn't its master."

"How do you know that the person who stole it had great magical powers?"

"Well… a person must be very powerful because they were able to stop Earl."

"Was he injured when the book was stolen?"

"Well… now that I thought about it… he wasn't and there were no signs of forced entry or any damage to the case. It was like Earl just let the person take it without fighting. But that can't be, you'd have to be—" Cynthia gasped and her eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost.

"Princess Cynthia?"

"I- I think… I know who took the book."

* * *

"A few years ago, there was an attack in the castle. Some feared that it might be the ones who attacked the kingdom centuries ago, but it wasn't." Princess Cynthia said.

They were in the museum of the royal family of Avalor through the centuries.

"It was a very strong person with powerful magic… more powerful than anyone else's."

"What happened to that person?"

"All of the high mages at that time, including me, joined out powers as one to create a spell that would trap them long enough to send that person far away where they could never escape no matter how strong their powers were. We thought that person would never return… so we have forgotten all about her."

They were standing in front of the portrait that was covered with the black fabric that Sofia saw a few days ago.

"Who is that person?" Sofia stuttered, a bad feeling flowed through her body as if it was a danger she was familiar with yet refused to admit it.

Cynthia sighed as she removed the fabric. It dropped slowly to the ground as if time was about to stop, "Princess Ivy of Avalor… my sister."

"P-Princess I-Ivy?" Sofia gasped in fear and horror. She began to tremble as she slowly fell to the ground.

"Princess Ivy? Who's Princess Ivy?" Amber asked.

"I figured you don't remember." Cynthia sighed and smiled sadly.

"What do you mean? Sofia what's is going on? Do you know something about this?"

"I- I…"

"It's okay Sofia… I'll do it." Cynthia made her hand glow and waved it over Earl and he transformed into a lilac butterfly glowing very brightly. He flew over James and Amber and sprinkled some sparkling white dust on them. He shined brightly again and brightness filled the room. They all closed their eyes to protect them from the bright light. Suddenly a flashes of memories flowed through their minds.

—FLASHBACKS—

'_I grew up in a kingdom far away  
Where all was black and white, and sometimes gray  
My charms were the greatest ever seen  
Yet still, they made my older sister queen'_

* * *

_**Young Sofia was playing hopscotch with the animals.**_

* * *

"_**How could you do this Amber? I trusted you!" Sofia shouted to Amber.**_

"_**I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted a turn."**_

"_**Well, you got it, and now an evil princess is going to take over our kingdom. This is the worst thing you've ever done!"**_

* * *

_'So I hatched a plot to bring her down_

_Show them who should wear the crown  
They caught me and without a trial  
Marooned me on a desert isle'_

* * *

"_**Rapunzel, I need to tell you something. I'm the reason Princess Ivy is here. It's a curse for taking Sofia's amulet." Amber said as they were riding the dragons up in the sky.**_

"_**Oh, so you stole it." Rapunzel smiled at Amber.**_

"_**Yes, I did, and I thought giving it back would undo the curse, but it didn't work."**_

* * *

_'All I sought was a kingdom of my own  
__Where I could rule from a black and white throne  
__And my dear sister will finally be outshone  
__The spotlight should be mine and mine alone  
__That's why I need a kingdom of my own'_

* * *

_**James was catching the butterflies that turned everything black and white. Miranda, Roland, and Baileywick were panicking as the castle was becoming black and white.**_

* * *

'And now your jewel, I hate to say,

Must be destroyed so I can stay  
But someone has to pay the price  
So I can have my two-tone paradise'

* * *

"_**Everything will be a whole lot easier if you just give what I want!"**_

* * *

_'I'll make your land a kingdom of my own  
Where I will rule from a black and white throne  
And everybody will finally be outshone  
The spotlight will be mine and mine alone  
After your dear daddy's overthrown  
I've got some nerve, but I deserve  
A kingdom of my very own'_

"_**I am Princess Ivy… or should I say, Queen Ivy?"**_

—_FLASHBACK END—_

* * *

"Oh my gosh… Sofia… I- I- I am so sorry. I- I didn't mean… did I really… Oh Sofia." Amber hugged her sister tightly as tears began to form in her eyes.

"I know… I know… it's fine…" Sofia gently calmed her sister and patted her head softly.

"So she's the one who did all this... don't worry, now that we know who the culprit is, we will get her for this." James said with a determined look, more serious than ever.

* * *

"Look! They found out about you! What are we going to do now?! They're gonna go after us! I told you this will happen if they talked with your older sister."

Ivy chuckled, "That's where you are wrong… they know I stole the book… they are going after me… they know about me but not about you…"

Her companion smirked at the idea.

"Princess Sofia will pay… and my dear sister will be the one to make her." Ivy laughed, "This is just getting better and better!"

* * *

**A/N**

**So the flashback thingy that James had was said in Chapter 2. In case you guys don't remember. Sorry if the flashbacks on Princess Ivy were kinda messy. They are actually just random lines taken from the movie.**

**OMG! Thank you so much for those wonderful reviews. I can't believe that it reached 30+. I'm so happy. It inspired me to work hard into writing a new chapter. And a big yay! Because we finally got to the 10****th**** chapter.**

**I just realized this now that we never got the chance to make a countdown on the days that Sofia had left. Kinda made that magical flower useless for 8 chapters ever since they started the journey. I can't believe I made such a mistake. T-T. Unfortunately it's too late now, it'd be difficult to make a drastic change.**

**What do you think about this chapter? Did you like the big reveal of the villain as Ivy that I noticed that most of you already guessed from the start. You guys are amazing. Please review. If there's any problem with this chapter do not be afraid to comment it and I'll be sure to fix it but pls be nice. I'm gonna be pretty busy for a few weeks but I'm going to keep writing so don't worry. **

**In the next chapter will be the explanation and story why Ivy was banished. And a new journey for our royals will begin.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Princess Ivy? She's your sis-sister? How?"

"Yes… Ivy is my younger sister." Princess Cynthia sighed.

"And you banished her into a deserted island?" Amber stated.

"N-no! Well… yes I- I did but I never meant for it to turn out that way… I… I didn't have any choice." Cynthia stuttered, eyes filled with sorrow and regret.

"Why don't you tell us everything from the start?" Sofia said.

"It's a long story…"

"Well? Are you going to tell us or not?" Hugo impatiently asked.

"Okay…"

"Ivy and I were the bests of friends. She was my sister. We did everything together. We played around the palace. Attended parties no matter how much it bored us, it didn't bother us were always together and life was never a bore. Until one day our father became really ill and it was time for one of us to take over the throne…"

* * *

_(FLASHBACK)_

"_Ivy! Ivy! Come one let's race to the top.." .a little girl with platinum blond hair shouted as she was running up the hill._

"_Yes, yes… I will… hey wait for me Cynthia…" Said a little girl with hair as white as snow and she struggled to climb up the hill._

_When the young princess Ivy finally reached the top, she saw her older sister standing on the branch of the tree. Young Cynthia saw her and grinned._

"_I win!"_

"_No fair! You know that I'm weak when it comes to these." _

"_Haha! Oops… I forgot…" Cynthia refused to meet her younger sister's gaze and tried to hold in her laugh._

"_Yeah right…" Ivy rolled her eyes, "Can you get down know? You know I can't climb really well and we're not even supposed to climb trees, Cynthia."_

"_Yeah yeah… sorry mom." Cynthia sarcastically said before climbing down the tree. She sat down to the ground beside Ivy, "Hey why do you keep calling me 'Cynthia'?"_

"_It's your name." Little Ivy answered in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone._

"_Yes, but you know that mother calls me 'Chrysanthemum'… Chrysanthemum Cynthia of Avalor…"_

"_Because it's hard… Cynthia is easier. Cr-Cry-sen-ti-um… bleh why did mom give you a difficult name!" Ivy pouted and crossed her arm._

_Cynthia giggled at her sister who tried hard to say her name, "Who knows… maybe it's my golden hair… hey do you know what the flower's meaning is?"_

"_Flowers have meanings?"_

"_Yes… mine represents happiness, joy, love, truth."_

"_Really? Wow… what does mine mean?"_

"_Well… Ivy Seraphina of Avalor… Ivy means friendship and affection… it symbolises a special bond between two people that keeps them together."_

"_I really like it… but did you have to say my second name?"_

"_Why not? It's a very pretty name…" Cynthia chuckled at her sister's reaction, "I know… this will cheer you up." Cynthia raised her hand and a glowing orb appear and she shot it towards the sky. It exploded like beautiful fireworks, which were shaped like their flowers. Ivy began jumping up and down._

"_Wow! Why can't be as talented as you? You're great at everything!"_

"_That's not true… I also have some flaws."_

"_As if." Ivy sighed, "You do everything better than me. I'll never be that great at anything."_

"_What are you talking about? You are great at something… you just have find it. Don't worry because I am always there for you."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really."_

* * *

"_School was so tiring and boring! It used to be so fun but now it's just full of studying to become a ruler and all that. How was your day?" a ten year old Cynthia lied down on Ivy's bed when they got home from the Avalor Academy._

"_It was okay…"an eight year old Ivy sat down on her desk. She brought out her books and some papers. She began to read one of the books._

"_Oh? Didn't you have an exam on sorcery class today? How was that?" Cynthia asked._

"_Fine…" Ivy replied, not taking her eyes off the book._

"_What was your score?"_

_Ivy handed a paper to Cynthia._

"_Wow! This is amazing Ivy. I never got this high score when I was in your grade… I almost failed that test. I guess I'm not that great when it comes to charms." Cynthia was really happy for her sister. It looked like all her hard work had finally paid off._

"_I see…" Ivy continued reading her book._

"_Hey, you alright? Shouldn't you be happy?"_

"_Of course I am…"_

"_Then we should celebrate!"_

_Ivy shook her head, "No thanks. I'm just studying for our next exam for magical creatures."_

"_But isn't that for another few weeks?" Cynthia asked. She was proud that her sister's working hard but lately all she had been doing was studying and working hard to improve her skills. Cynthia knows that Ivy wanted to prove something but what?_

"_Yes."_

"_Why are you already studying for it now?"_

"_I need to study, can you please leave alone so I can concentrate?" Ivy didn't gave her an answer to her question. Cynthia sensed that she was hiding something but decided to leave it for now._

"_Oh… a-alright. I'll see you later Ivy." Cynthia said as she left the room._

* * *

_After a few years the king of Avalor became very sick. He was coughing a lot and at time he would cough out blood. The king hid his sickness from everyone except for the queen. Until years later the day the king's sickness worsen and finally collapsed happened._

"_Jonquil!" the queen ran towards her husband who was lying on the floor._

"_I'm fine Marigold…" The king coughed ferociously._

"_No you are not. I was patient at first and hope your sickness will be gone but it hasn't and now it's worse than before. This can't go any longer. We have to tell them. Chrysanthemum and Ivy would be devastated if they didn't know.., our daughters would worry a lot." Queen Marigold insisted her stubborn husband._

"_I-"King Jonquil coughed again. Queen Marigold sighed worriedly and helped her husband lie down on the bed. _

_After the king was finally asleep, the queen called a healer for the king._

* * *

"_Is father going to be alright?" a twenty year old Cynthia asked worriedly._

"_Well… Princess Chrysanthemum… Princess Ivy… you see your father, the king is very weak and old… he can't… he can't perform his duties as the ruler of Avalor any longer and needs to rest… a lot." The minister informed the princesses._

"_Can't we see him, Alfonso?"_

"_I'm terribly sorry but… no." he sadly replied. _

"_And what about our mother?" the older princess asked._

"_Your mother needs to be with the king for support. After a few days, a decision would be made for one of you to become the next in line for the throne."_

"_Who will make that decision?" an eighteen year old Ivy asked._

"_The decision will be made by the high mages… they will know who will be best suited to rule this kingdom. For now you can rest easy… and just wait for any further announcements." The minister walked out of the room, leaving the two princesses alone._

"_Sister… wh-what…" Ivy stuttered and her body trembled as she fell on the floor._

"_Ivy…" Cynthia placed both of her hand on her sister's shoulders._

"_What's happening? Is f-father…" Ivy sobbed._

_Cynthia wiped her sister's tears away, "Shh… it's going to be alright. Everything is going to be fine. We'll make it through this."_

_A strong gust of wind suddenly stormed through the entire room. Cynthia pulled her sister into a protective embrace._

"_W-what's happening?!"_

"_Aaaaaahhhh!"_

"_What was that?" Ivy asked, clutching tighter to her sister._

"_I- I don't know… but it didn't feel… bad. It actually had a peaceful feeling." Cynthia said softly as she let go of Ivy. _

_The two princesses went to their separate rooms while they waited for someone to tell them what will happen. They felt like helpless ducks alone in the pond. Little did they know that everything's about to change._

* * *

_A few days later, the king passed away. The whole kingdom was filed with grief and worry. But of all the people who were hurt, Queen Marigold was hurt the most. The sadness and grief in the queen's heart was too much for her. She barely ate nor sleep until she was beside her husband. The kingdom was left with no rulers. The people were worried of what would happen. They didn't know how to manage without anyone guiding them._

_Princess Ivy began to isolate herself from everyone, especially her sister. She practiced her studies and magic harder than before. She became famous for being the most talented in magical spells in the kingdom. Yet it wasn't enough…_

_Princess Cynthia grew up to be a wise and caring princess. Even though she was no longer with her sister, she spent time helping the villagers. The people expected a lot from her. They wanted her to be the one to take over the throne, even though she wasn't as skilled as her younger sister. _

_This made Princess Ivy angry. She hated it. She was jealous of her older sister. Ivy was obviously much talented and skilful than her older sister. She had the perfect qualifications to take over the throne, yet she wondered why she couldn't be the one. Was she not enough? She wondered what else was missing. Rage and hatred soon began to fill her heart… _

* * *

"_Who is going to take over the king's position, both princesses are equally qualified." A member of the high mage council asked._

"_I think it should be Princess Cynthia. She is the elder one between the two of them. It's logical for her to be the next in line." Said another member._

"_Yes, but Princess Ivy is just as qualified. She possesses great magical power. She is at the top of her class. Even though she is only eighteen, she is already compared to those of the higher grades. She can definitely handle the kingdom's problem with ease." Another said against the other._

"_But Princess Cynthia also has great magical powers… yes, it's not as strong as Princess Ivy's but she can definitely match hers with proper guidance and training. And the villagers obviously love her."_

"_That is true… but Princess Ivy has mastered the different kinds of ancient spells that even some of us haven't fully mastered. She shows great talent. She will make a great queen. It's what she has been training for her whole life. She is the one who can regain the kingdom's status back on track in such sort notice." _

_The other mages nodded in agreement._

"_What do you think Lucila?" _

_He was answered with silence. The other mages stared at the silver haired mage, Lucila, the highest mage, waiting for her decision._

"_No." was her answer_

_The room was filled with gasps and commotion._

"_But Princess Ivy-"_

"_She is very powerful and talented I admit. She can rule this kingdom with ease… but not with heart." Lucila said._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I can see it… that girl's heart has a great darkness inside. She can't… she must not rule this kingdom. If she does… I feel that Avalor… no… the whole magical kingdom will perish as long as her heart doesn't become pure." Lucila's eyes began to glow. The clear orb I the centre of the room began to show her vision. Chaos and destruction everywhere. People screaming and running._

_Little did they know that a certain princess overheard their conversation. Princess Ivy was furious. They wouldn't pick her because of that?! She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe that she would send the kingdom into ruins. She decided to prove them wrong as she left the hall. _

* * *

"_What?! How could that be?!"_

"_Even before the king and queen's death… I already foresaw the future of this kingdom. I saw the truth that lies within each of the princesses' hearts." Lucila sighed, "Do you remember that strong gust of wind that surrounded the palace before the king died?" _

"_Of course… we all sensed a strong magical power in that wind… unfortunately we still don't know the cause of it."_

"_That wind was a sign… I found out that the Amulet of Avalor finally found a successor." She said._

"_The Amulet of Avalor?! The one that holds Avalor's magical core?!" a mage commented._

"_Yes." Lucila confirmed._

"_Is… is it in safe hands?" _

"_By how that wind felt… I must say that we can be assured that nothing bad will happen to the magical realm." Lucila reassured them._

"_What did you mean by it being a sign?"_

"_A warning. The Amulet of Avalor… more specifically the magical core gave a warning. It sent me a vision of something disastrous… and I am horrified to say that… Princess Ivy will be the cause of it."_

* * *

_Ivy was filled with rage and anger. She climbed up the highest tower of the castle. She released the butterflies that she created. The butterflies began turning the place black and white. Ivy summoned a giant storm to come forth Avalor. Dark clouds began to appear in the sky. Thunder and lightning flashed and crackled to the ground. The storm flowed through the village. The people panicked. Fire spread through the buildings and houses. Ivy watched the chaos that spread around Avalor._

"_Princess Chrysanthemum! Princess Chrysanthemum!"_

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Something terrible is happening… Princess Ivy… she-"_

* * *

"_This will show them who should be the true ruler of this kingdom!" Ivy shouted._

"_Ivy!" _

_Ivy turned around to see her opponents, "Oh! Look who it is… Cynthia. Came to see the show?"_

_Cynthia was shocked to see that her sister's hair was half-white and half-black. "I-Ivy, y-your hair…"_

"_Like it? I've always wanted a change of look. Pure white is sickening to look at. Now I like it better with black, darkness like the never ending depths of despair and hatred inside my heart."_

"_Ivy, you need to stop this. This is not right." Cynthia pleaded as she held her sister's ice-cold hand. _

_Ivy slapped away Cynthia's hand, "Oh please… don't put that goody-two-shoes act on me."_

_Cynthia gasped in confusion, "What?"_

"_You heard me! I am so sick of you making everyone think you're the perfect innocent princess. You are obviously pretending and playing with everyone's minds." Ivy shouted. The storm worsen as the thunder and lightning kept striking the land._

"_What are you talking about? I never-"_

"_You liar!" Ivy sent a swarm of butterflies to attack Cynthia._

"_Ah!" Cynthia casted a magical shield to protect herself and the mages, attacking the butterflies in the process._

"_I see you've learned a couple of new tricks… sister." Ivy created a black energy sphere and threw it to Cynthia, "But that won't be enough to defeat me!" _

_Cynthia's hands began to glow as she starred at the sphere going towards her. She took a deep breath before catching the sphere, which turned white. She threw it to the sky, and it exploded like fireworks._

"_Amazing! That's a difficult charm. How did Princess Cynthia know how to use that?"_

"_Yes. Even that protective barrier was also a higher level spell… where did she learn that?"_

_Ivy didn't looked surprised but she did become more furious. She used a spell to transform her butterflies into ferocious creatures to attack the mages. The high mages fought with the creatures, unable to help the princess._

"_This is between you and me… Cynthia." She created more sphere and kept throwing them at her sister, but Cynthia managed to deflect all of them._

"_Enough Ivy! Please stop this!"_

"_Never! I will be queen! I deserved to be the queen! Not you, you deceitful person."_

"_Ivy!"_

"_I worked hard to earn the title! To be able to rule! And for once in my life… to not be seen as your shadow. Yet… you who did nothing but put on that fake smile and wave got the people's loyalty and adoration… you don't deserve it! It should be me!"_

_Ivy screamed and created another sphere more powerful than the previous ones. She threw it to Cynthia. Cynthia took a deep breath as she caught it and pushed it back towards Ivy._

_Ivy was surprised but she managed to summon her butterflies to protect her._

"_Princess Chrysanthemum… we have no other choice. We have to use the incantation to send Princesss Ivy away from this kingdom." Lucila shouted at the princess._

"_No! Please let me try to reason with her."_

"_But-"_

"_Please." Cynthia looked directly into her eyes with determination and faith. She believed that she can still change her sister's mind. They can start all over again. She was her sister. She was her only family that she had left._

_The mages nodded._

"_Ivy!" Cynthia called her sister, "Please stop this. Whatever the problem is, we can solve it together. I'm your sister. I'm here for you, Ivy. You can trust me."_

"_NO! I will never trust you!" Ivy casted a lightning bolt to strike Cynthia._

_Cynthia didn't have time to react and her body was forced into the wall. It injured her severely. The mages immediately ran to her aid._

"_Princess Cynthia… we apologize but we have to do it. Please think of the villagers… the kingdom. The kingdom that your parents prospered and loved with their lives." One of the mages said._

"_I… but… my sister…"_

"_There's nothing more we can do."_

_Tears began forming on Cynthia's eyes, but she nodded in the end. The mages helped the princess to stand up. Cynthia stood up facing Ivy, and the mages went behind her. They began to recite the incantation. Cynthia began to glow. Her whole body was covered with a bright golden light. _

"_What? What's happening? What are you doing?" Ivy listened to the incantation and realized it was the banishment curse, "No!" she gasped. She couldn't believe they would do this… that her own sister… would do this to her._

_The mages finished the incantation. White chains began to appear from Cynthia. She raised her hands towards Ivy, bringing the chains to her. The chains wrapped themselves around Ivy. A dark violet portal appeared behind Ivy._

"_No! No! No!" Ivy screamed as the portal began to draw her in, marooning her to the unknown world where she can no longer harm anyone._

"_Goodbye… sister…"_

_(END FLASHBACK)_

* * *

"And that's the whole story…" Princess Cynthia's eyes began to water, remembering that tragic night. It haunted her to this day. It was difficult for her to say all of that… she knew they deserved an explanation.

"Wow… I kinda felt sorry for Ivy. I know how she must have felt—or still does. She felt insecure. She must've been very lonely."

"I can only image how worse she must've felt when she was marooned."

"I know… there wasn't a day or a moment, that I didn't regret that decision. The high mages told me that what I did was for the best… but I still wished I hadn't. I wished, I hoped that there was a way to change it. If I could've just been more observant, I would've noticed something was wrong. I could've prevented it… if only I'd been a better sister to her… then she… she wouldn't be—" Cynthia burst into tears, "I- I am so sorry Sofia…"

Sofia held Princess Cynthia's hand and smiled at her, "It's not your fault Princess Cynthia… you couldn't have done anything to stop it. You had to save your kingdom… this beautiful world is still alive because of you. Don't let your mistakes from the past hold you back from seeing the wonderful things you've done."

"And don't worry… we will succeed on retrieving that book and we will cure Sofia." Hugo reassured her and the others agreed with him.

"Well… I guess we better pack our bags." Amber sadly sighed.

James smirked, "Next stop… banished island."

* * *

**A/N**

**That's it for now guys. I know it's rather short because it was just mainly a flashback story of what happened with Ivy before the **_**Curse of Princess Ivy **_**had happened. I actually got kind of teary eyed while writing this. It's really sad. Sorry if it turned out to depressing, lately the chapters have been a bit dramatic. **

**What do you guys think? PLEASE REVIEW and I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as possible.**

**(IMPORTANT!) PLEASE READ THIS: **

**IF you have any suggestions or requests you want to have in the story. PLEASE comment them on the REVIEWS. **

**Do NOT or at least REFRAIN from sending me private messages because most of the times I don't pay much attention to them. And I sometimes FORGET about them or FORGET to reply and thus you may think that I ignored that favour, suggestion, or wish.**

**I am very very very open to any suggestions, please do not be shy about of suggesting something for the story. When you write a suggestion means that you have a creative mind to make the story more beautiful.**

**I'm used to only get PM from by beta and co-writers.**

**I always check the REVIEWS, like kin – literally – everyday. I ALWAYS read them. I take those comments, suggestions, even the… not so good reactions, seriously. If there's any problem, I tend to change and fix those problems. **

**DO NOT think that you giving suggestions will cause me problems. Even if I already finished the draft, it can always be adjusted. Like now, in this chapter Sofia was supposed to get the book already but it turns out to be Ivy and Cynthia's past. **

**I read REVIEW more OFTEN than PM. So if any of you really want something to be added to the story, please comment it AND IF I messaged you and accepted the request… then and ONLY then will we discuss about it. Unless you are a Guest then I'll reply on the next chapter.**

**Thank you for your cooperation.**

**See you in the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**

**Hey guys sorry I haven't updated for quite a while. I've been busy with school I haven't got any time to write at all T-T. I have to admit that I've also been kinda lazy lately. **

**I'm going to be gone for a few more weeks so I hope that you all will be patient and in the mean time you can post your ideas or suggestions that you want to include in the story. Even though I will be quite busy for a few days, I am still checking those reviews EVERYDAY. So please! REVIEW!**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

Chapter 12

The princesses and princes went to their separate rooms to get some rest and to prepare for the big day ahead. The next morning, they all got dressed and prepared their things that they will need in the adventure. Princess Cynthia led them to the room where they first arrived when they went through the portal from Hakalo. It was still the same room. Different doors on every side of the circular room which means – they're everywhere. They were confused as to why they were there.

"Prin— I mean Queen Cynthia? What are we doing here?" Princess Sofia asked.

Cynthia smiled at the young princess, "It's alright for you to call me 'Princess'… I prefer it that way." Sofia nodded as did the others.

"As for the reason why we're here is because this is where we can be able to transport ourselves to the banished island where Ivy is." Cynthia saw the confused looks of the young royals and chuckled. She went to Sofia and held the stone of her necklace and explained, "Sofia, do you know how the princesses from different parts of the magical realm were able to come to you through your amulet?"

Sofia shook her head and looked at the older princess with a confused look. For years, Sofia has been summoning princesses to help her yet she never thought of how exactly they were able to get to her. She just assumed that it was plainly the amulet's power.

"You see your amulet is connected to all of the kingdoms and once they heard your call, they all come to this place to go through a portal to your world. This is the room of magical portals. It is connected to all of the kingdoms in the magical realm. Let me show you…" Cynthia walked towards one of the doors. Her hand began to glow as she waved it in front of the door. The princesses and princes watched as the door slowly opened. They all gasped at the kingdom that was behind that door.

"It's Enchancia!"

"Our home…" Sofia said.

"Oh my… I've almost forgotten what our castle looks like…" Amber whispered but were heard by everyone. Her eyes were glistening from the tears forming in her eyes.

James wrapped an arm around her Amber and let her cry on his shoulder as he gently rubs her back, "I don't blame you… we have been gone for so long."

"Wait. If there was a portal from here to Enchancia, that means there should be one from here to Enchancia." Vivian stated but in a questioning tone.

"Yeah… why didn't we just used it? It would've saved us a lot of trouble." Hugo said.

"Don't you think if there was one, I wouldn't have sent you to Hakalo?" Cynthia smiled at them.

"You mean there isn't one?"

"No… my ancestors destroyed the other portals outside of Avalor a long time ago. After the war… the only portal that was left was on Hakalo." Cynthia sadly said.

"I- I see…"

"Please do not be sad, it's not your fault that it happened. Those nightmares happened a long time ago. And now are over." Cynthia smiled sadly at them. Cynthia showed them the portal that leads to the banished isle. They gasped at how terrifying it looked. It was a dark mountain surrounded by hedges of thorns and dead trees.

"Are we seriously going in there?" Amber asked, afraid of what's lurking in that place.

"Let's go." They all took a deep breath as they slowly stepped inside the portal.

Sofia and the others were swirling around. They were floating into the space, much similar to when they first stepped into the portal. Time seemed to stop for a moment. They didn't know what will happen to them. Deep inside they were afraid but they knew that they were in this together and that's what kept them strong. Slowly, the image of a dark mountain began to form. It was becoming clearer and clearer. Finally, they have arrived.

"We're here… we made it." James announced.

"Okay, I haven't been here for a minute and I already hate this place." Amber commented.

"This place is awful."

"It's like all our nightmares came to life in this horrid land."

"Where do you think Ivy is hiding?" Zandar asked.

They thought for a moment. A strong wind blew straight at them. Sofia looked at the dark sky. She saw swirling dark clouds and thunder that all seemed to come from the top of the mountain. "Look at the top of the mountain. It looks as if the storm clouds are forming around it. Ivy is probably up there."

"Are you sure?"

"I-" Sofia's amulet began to glow a dark aura. They were surprised by the sudden warning from the amulet, "I'm sure."

"Then let's go, we don't have much time."

They started to find a trail that could lead them up. They found nothing. It's too steep to climb up to. Cynthia is unable to use her powers because the place blocks any magical elements. The only place she could probably use her powers was where the tear on the portal that connects the island to the rest of Avalor. They tried to search for another way. Hugo spotted a cave at a high point of the mountain.

"Guys! I think I found something!" Hugo shouted. Seconds later they all went to Hugo.

"What is it Hugo?"

Hugo pointed at the hole, "Look at that! I think that tunnel can lead us to a path."

"You sure?"

"No, but it's the only plan we have, unless you guys found another path. We can at least try it."

"Alright, we'll try." James dropped his bag and began to look for something. He brought out some rope and a large hook. He tied the rope to the hook, "You guys might want to step back." He warned before swinging the rope around and throwing it to the rock. The hook was caught. James tugged the rope to see if it was safe.

"Okay, I'll go first then Hugo, so we can see if it's safe only then we'll help the rest of you up. Zandar, take care of the others for a while."

"I'm going too." Sofia said.

"No!" Sofia was surprised by the way James's voice raised at her. James quickly turned to Sofia and grabbed her shoulders, "Ivy might be there waiting to ambush you. We'll be just giving her what she wants. You have to stay here Sofia and watch the others while we're gone." James said as he tightened his grasp on Sofia's shoulders.

"But you might get hurt in there. You- you're still injured and—"

"Sofia, I'm fine."

"No- I- I don't want to lose you again." tears were forming on Sofia's eyes as she her grip on James' shirt got tighter.

"You won't. I'm not gonna let that happen. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." James said as he pressed his lips against Sofia's forehead.

"James…"

"Please Sofia."

"O-okay…"

* * *

"Don't you dare get back here injured alright… I want you to come back here in one piece or else I'm gonna really hit you." Amber pouted and shouted at Hugo. Hugo laughed at Amber's antics which was unusual for her since she was always refined.

"It's not funny."

"I promise I'll be safe. I wouldn't want you to bursting into tears like you're doing right now."

"What are you talking about?! I'm not crying." Amber suddenly wiped the tears forming in her eyes that she didn't realize she had. Hugo sighed and pulled her into tight hug.

"I'm gonna be fine…so stop crying, 'kay?" Hugo whispered in Amber's ear and earned a short nod from Amber before letting go.

* * *

James grabbed the rope and began to climb up. He clutched on the rock to hoist himself up. He gestured Hugo to follow. Hugo nodded. He took the rope and climbed up. James offered his hand to help Hugo up. James noticed that the cave was rather dark. He picked up a stick and tore one of his sleeves. And Hugo started to make a fire. James lighted the torch. The light coming from the torch awakened the sleeping bats in the cave. James and Hugo were alarmed by the sudden swarm of bats flying towards them and outside the cave.

* * *

Meanwhile Sofia and the others were waiting outside when they saw the bats flying out.

"Do you think they're alright?"

"Knowing James, he's probably having a blast right now." commented Amber.

* * *

"Cool!" James gasped as he watched the bats fly out of the cave.

"Cool? It's disgusting. I can't believe you find such creatures as fascinating." Hugo said who was lying on the ground.

"Oh don't be such a scaredy-cat." James smirked and walked deeper into the cave.

Hugo stood up and followed James, "I am not. Unlike you." He replied.

"What do you mean unlike me?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sofia." Hugo immediately shot back.

James was taken aback by Hugo sudden statement and didn't even realize that he had stopped walking.

"W-what do you mean? What about S-Sofia?"

"Oh please… don't you dare try that trick on me. I know you know what I mean. I know that you're in love with her. And I don't mean as a sister." Hugo crossed his arms.

"I—You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Amber." James commented but only got a glare from Hugo. James sighed in defeat as he was not able to think of any excuse, "Yeah, you're right. I do love Sofia."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Why haven't you told her anything?"

"Because she's my si-"

"She's your **step-**sister." Hugo emphasized on the last word, tired of hearing James saying the same reason over and over again half-heartedly.

"Still, I can't."

"Why?"

"I-I just can't."

"You're afraid."

"Yes… I'm afraid. I'm afraid of being rejected. I'm afraid of losing her, of what we have now. I'm afraid everything will change." James admitted.

"Been there, done that."

"You think this is funny?"

"Frankly, yes. Back in the academy, out of all of the princes… as much as I hate to admit it, you were always the bravest. You were never afraid to take the challenges and face them. You were always the daredevil. I thought you were just being stupid but I learned to admire that courage. It's what made you the 'James' we know today… but right now, you are not that person."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing used to stop you from achieving your goals, no matter how stupid they seem, so… what's stopping you now from telling your feelings to the person you've loved for ten years?"

"She doesn't feel the same."

"How can you know that for sure?"

"I- I…"

"You will never know if what she feels for you is more than a brother if you will never try."

"Why are telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be in love with Sofia? Don't tell me that you've already grown tired of it."

"No, I still love her. I just can't stand to look at your pathetic face." Hugo smirked. He was waiting to say that to him for a long time obviously.

"What?!"

Hugo laughed internally on James's reaction and decided to just ignore his urge to mock him further, "I care about her, James. I care about her a lot. I love her that's why I had to the things that would make her happy, even if it means that I have to let her go… because I'm not the one who can give her that happiness, no matter how much I want to be. But I'm not just gonna stand around and let her be with someone else who does thing half-heartedly."

"Hugo…"

Suddenly the ground began to shake.

"W-what's happening?"

A loud sound was heard. It was like something exploded. Smoke began to appear. James and Hugo managed to keep themselves up. Once the smoke was starting to clear, a large figure was in sight. The smoke finally disappeared and revealed a strange creature. It was similar to a dragon but without wings and was standing up with two feet. The creature had horns on its back and one on its nose. And its tail was long and had sharp spikes at the end. Its teeth were sharp and it had the eyes of a vicious snake. It also had a shining black gem on its forehead.

"What the heck is that?!"

* * *

"I think something's wrong." Sofia said as she clenched on her amulet.

"Sofia, I know you're worried about James and Hugo but they're—" Amber tried to reassure her sister.

"No, it's… it's not that… I mean, I am worried but… I think something bad is happening to them. This feeling… is really bad."

"Sofia—"

A loud roar suddenly came from the cave.

"What was that?" Clio and Hildegard asked.

It became quite until another loud sound of an explosion came and was followed by two screams.

"It's Hugo and James!" Amber shouted.

"They're in trouble."

"Let's go help them."

They all climbed up the rope and went inside the cave. They saw light coming from the end of the tunnel. The noise was also becoming clearer. Once they reached the light they saw a large creature that was attacking James and Hugo.

"James! Hugo!" Sofia called.

"Sofia?!" the two turned to see Sofia with the others behind her.

Sofia ran towards the two princes. She faced the horrifying creature.

"Stop!" she shouted at the creature.

"Sofia, what are doing?!" Hugo asked.

'Who are you and what are you doing here?!' the creature shouted.

"Please, we are here to capture the person who put a curse on me. We do not wish to harm you." Sofia pleaded.

The creature's eyes widened with shock and spoke again in a very low and rough voice, 'You! You can understand me?!'

"Yes."

Princess Cynthia walked towards the creature and began to speak to him, "You… could you be the guardian of the banished isle?"

'Yes. And I was supposed to not let anyone leave this place and no one is supposed to come here unless it's a prisoner. Clearly, you are not.'

"No, I am not. I am Chrysanthemum Cynthia of Avalor."

'Your highness!' the creature bowed down.

"Princess Cynthia, can you please explain what… this is...?" one of the young royals asked.

"He is one of the protectors of the island. They keep anyone who is banished to remain in the island." Cynthia explained.

"And you didn't tell this to us because…?" Amber inquired, raising her eyebrow.

Cynthia sighed, "I thought it was just a myth. These soldiers are rumoured to hide in the shadows and to be never seen by anyone. They don't attack anyone unless it's someone who is meant to be here. Prisoners as you could say."

"So how come this one did?"

'AAARRRGGGHHH!'

"What's happening? Is something wrong?"

'I- I can't! Get away! Get Away from me!' his eyes glowed menacing green as the gem on his forehead glowed grimly as well.

The beast growled and the ground began to shake. It turned to face Sofia and the others. It started to attack them. James and Hugo immediately drew their swords out and charged the creature while Zandar gathered the girls to protect them.

"What the heck is happening with this guy?!" James shouted.

"I have no idea. He was fine a minute ago…" Sofia replied back.

"Whatever it is, we have to stop him! Permanently." Hugo yelled back as he tried to avoid getting hit by the creature's tail. "Whoa!"

"N-no! It's the guardian of this place. It can't be attacking us on purpose. Something must be wrong with it." Sofia shouted back as she avoided to get hit by the creature.

Cynthia said, "Sofia's right, soldiers of the banished isle would never hurt outsiders on purpose. They only keep banished ones from leaving and never attack people unless they have to. Someone must be controlling him. There's only one person strong enough to do that…"

"Princess Ivy!" they all concluded.

"Okay, so how do we break the curse on this guy?" James asked.

"The curse is probably not that strong so it will be easier to break, we just have to find its source." explained Cynthia.

"Alright, spread out and find its weak point so we can buy some time to locate the source." James instructed the others.

"I'll help." Cynthia said.

"But your highness—"

"Hey, I might be a princess but it doesn't mean I don't know how to fight." Princess Cynthia smirked as she removed her coat and drew out a silver bow with the arrows hanging from her back.

"Whoa…"

Princess Cynthia ran to a high point of the cave. She took an arrow and casted a small charm on it that she was able to cast due to their closeness to the rip on the magical barrier. She shot it at the ground, just beside the creature's foot. The creature was surprised and immediately jumped away.

The other princes and princesses surrounded the creature to keep it in its place as Cynthia shot another on the ground beside its other foot.

Another right beside the waist and another on the opposite side. Lastly, she shot it on the ground, in front of the creature. She whispered a few incantations and the arrows jolted up strings that connected each of them, forming a star and a net covered the creature.

Unfortunately, the net wasn't able to hold on for the creature managed to rip it off. Even though it was weakened a bit, it was still on a rampage. It charged right towards Vivian. Just before the beast was able to hit her, Vivian was grabbed by Sofia. The creature hit the walls of the cave. It wasn't moving.

"Is… is it over?" Vivian asked.

"I think—"

The creature began to move. The dark gem that was slightly cracked on its forehead began to glow once more.

Sofia gasped, "The gem!" Sofia turned to the others, "It's the gem. The gem is the source!"

Cynthia nodded and grabbed another arrow and aimed at the black gem. She shot it on the creature but it managed to dodge it. The creature swung its tail and pointed it at Cynthia. The large stone-like spikes from the tail were flying at her. She saw it and jumped off the cliff barely avoiding the spikes that hit the wall instead, crushing it into pieces. She landed hard on the ground.

"Princess Cynthia!" Hildegard and Clio ran to aid her.

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine. I just— ah!" Cynthia felt a sharp pain in her arm. It was sprained during her fall.

Hildegard and Clio helped her up and took her to a safe place.

Hugo was dodging the large rocks the creature kept throwing, "I can't get close enough!" he shouted.

"Neither can I…" Zandar said back.

"Cover me!" James shouted as he charged to the creature.

"James?!" exclaimed Zandar.

"He's crazy!" Hugo said.

"That's James for you."

Zandar and Hugo began to attack it and had it chase them to keep it distracted away from James. Unfortunately Zandar and Hugo were immediately cornered by the beast.

"Well, I guess this is the end. At least I'll be forever known as the heroic prince who sacrificed his life to save the magical realm and his true love." Zandar joked.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Hugo looked at Zandar as if he had grown two heads.

"What? It's a great legacy to leave behind, right?"

The beast roared loudly at them. A rock was suddenly thrown at the back of its head. The creature turned and saw the princesses standing behind them.

"Sorry to destroy your plans, but I for one am not planning on becoming a widow before I could even be a bride and get married." Hildegard said while throwing and catching a rock in her hands. She threw it directly at the creature's face and it hit its nose, "Alright now!" she yelled.

The princesses began to throw coloured smoke bombs to confuse the creature. Zandar and Hugo were staring in awe at the sudden events until Hildegard and Amber pulled them.

"James! Go!" Sofia yelled and James jumped off the cliff from where he was hiding and landed on the creature's back. He climbed up to its head and held on to its horns. The creature began to move around and James had a hard time to keep hold of his grasp.

"Come on James…" Sofia held her hands together with her amulet and hoped for his safety.

James struggled until he found the chance to strike the gem on its forehead. He felt his grip getting loose until he heard a whisper in his head

"_You can do it James…" _he recognized the angel-like voice. It was Sofia's. He gathered up all of his strength and at the perfect moment he managed to hit the gem with his sword.

The creature screamed in pain. It slowly collapsed on the ground. The gem began to crack until it shattered into pieces and disappeared.

James jumped off the creature and was greeted by a tight embrace.

"James!" Sofia said, tightening her arms around him.

James realized that it was Sofia and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I was so scared…" Sofia whispered as her whole body trembled.

"Shh… it's fine Sof. It's over. The spell on him is broken. He can't attack you now."

"I was scared James… I- I thought I was going to lose you." Sofia's sobs were getting louder.

James realized the reason why Sofia was afraid. It wasn't because of the creature. It was because of him. She was afraid of losing him. A soft smile was then placed on his face.

"You're not going to lose me Sof. I promised you, remember?" Sofia nodded slowly. "Good." James said as he placed a small kiss on Sofia's forehead before leaning his forehead into hers.

Amber walked over to them and began to speak, "James! What you did back there is—"

"Awesome?"

"Crazy! It's absolutely idiotic of you to suddenly charge back there without even a warning. You could've hurt yourself." Amber said as she kept on hitting James's chest with her fist.

"But I didn't." James rolled his eyes.

"Still! You almost had fallen from that creature. It might've stepped on you if you hadn't been careful."

James noticed the tears forming in Amber's eyes and realised that she was truly worried about him, "I'm sorry Amber."

"Oh James." Amber hugged James and buried her eyes on his neck. James could feel Amber's tears soaking he fabric on his shoulder, "You idiotic brother of mine… you were really brave." She added before letting go.

"Thanks Amber. Sorry for worrying you."

"Of course I'll worry. I'm your older sister after all. It's my job to worry." Amber joked, sniffling a bit.

"Only by seven minutes Amber…" James answered back just like he did when they were kids.

"Is everyone alright?" Princess Cynthia asked rushing towards the princes and princesses.

"Yes. Are alright Princess Cynthia? How's your arm?" Sofia asked.

"I'm fine. I just sprained it a bit. I'll get the magical healers to treat it once we get home." Cynthia reassured them.

"Alright, we should go now."

* * *

**A/N**

**Okay. I am so sorry to suddenly cut it like that. It's just that while I was writing this chapter I noticed that it was too long so I decided to cut it into parts. Don't worry the next chapter will be posted immediately as soon as I am done with it. The next chapter will be quite short. And so will chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16 because they are the cut out parts of this chapter, sort of. **

**Thank you all for loving this story. I'm glad that you guys are still waiting patiently. I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to update the story cause I was really really really busy with school and everything. I'll spare you guys the details and I'll just see you in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N **

**Hey guys. I know that I've been gone for quite a while. I know that some of you might've already thought that this story was discontinued. Well I'm here now to tell you that it is not. I know I haven't updated in months. Truth is I was sort of having a writer's block. I really wasn't that enthused to write so I stopped for a while. I didn't realize that it has been months since I last wrote. I've still been looking at the status of my story and reading your reviews. And I've realized how much I've missed writing, so now I'm gonna keep on updating more. I WILL CONTINUE ROYAL LOVE STORY AND I WILL MAKE SURE TO END IT PROPERLY. Thank you so much for supporting this story. And I promise not to let you down, hopefully I won't.**

**Okay this is the part 1 of the part that I had suddenly cut from chapter 12 cause it was really long or you could just say it's the part 2 of chapter 12. Whatever, it's chapter 13.**

**I read that most of you wanted it to have more fluffy, lovey-dovey scenes with the pairings in the story. And I have noticed that they haven't much alone time with each other so here it is. I'm going to start with Zandar and Hildegard.**

* * *

Chapter 13 – Zandar and Hildegard

They continued to walk through the tunnels. So far they haven't been attacked yet. Only more swarm of bats and mice that they encountered. A few insects came insight, much to Amber's disgust. She was still traumatized by the last time they went to the cave filled with bugs. Suddenly their journey was stopped for a moment. In front of them were four tunnels that leads to different paths.

"Where to now?" Vivian asked.

"Sofia do you think you can sense the right path?" Cynthia requested.

"I'll try." Sofia closed her eyes and gripped her amulet. She thought long and hard wishing that the amulet would give her answers. Nothing. It didn't work.

"Anything?" Cynthia asked.

"No…" Sofia sadly shook her head. They couldn't rely on the amulet for everything. It was time they did this on their own.

"I think this is the time we all split up." James said.

"What?!" they all exclaimed.

"We can't go on separate paths. It's dangerous and crazy." Hugo pointed out.

"We don't have any other choice." James sighed, "It'll be much faster if we all were to split up to find Ivy and the book."

"But it is Princess Ivy. She's powerful. We can't fight her if we're divided." Hildegard said.

"We don't have much of a choice. We're running out of time." The blond prince said with determination as he looked at the flower on Sofia's arm. It was almost completely turned black. More than half of the petals were black which means they only had less than two weeks left. He clenched his fists in frustration.

They followed James's gaze and realized what he meant. They looked at James once more and met his eyes. They slowly nodded in agreement and began to set themselves into groups.

"Let's go." James said.

They divided into four groups: Sofia and James, Amber and Hugo, Zandar and Hildegard, and Cynthia, Vivian and Clio. Sofia and James entered the first tunnel, Amber and Hugo entered the second, Hildegard and Zandar entered the third and Princess Cynthia went with Vivian and Clio to the last tunnel.

* * *

Zandar and Hildegard were walking down the tunnel very silently. Only the echo of their footsteps could be heard. The silence was suffocating but it's the awkwardness that's making Zandar want to dig a hole for himself. He gathered up his courage to finally break the awkward silence.

"So…" he started.

"Hmm?"

"Umm… about what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?" Hildegard asked not turning to face Zandar.

"You know… the creature… running… t-t-then you said… uhm…" Zandar began to stutter. He wasn't sure how to ask. He got it all planned out in his head but apparently his mouth didn't seem to cooperate.

"I don't understand what you're trying to say Zandar."

"Hildegard… w-when we were fighting the creature… we started running as a distraction for James to attack him. Hugo and I were cornered… y-you came a-and said t-that… you didn't want to be a widow before you could become a b-bride…" Zandar stuttered while saying them really fast, "W-what did you mean by t-that?"

"What do you think it meant?" Hildegard asked with hope in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Are you already engage to someone?"

The shine in Hildegard's eyes died down as she pouted, "It depends on whether the guy will get the clue and ask me to be with him or not." She said as she walked quickly leaving Zandar on his own.

"W-wha— H-Hildegard! Wait for me!"

* * *

They continued walking further into the cave, until they heard a sound behind them.

"Zandar… do you hear that?" Hildegard asked which made Zandar stop to listen to the sound. It was rather faint but it soon became louder and louder as it went closer to them. It became clearer and they noticed whatever was coming towards them was hissing. But that wasn't the problem that had the prince and princess shiver with fear, it was because it wasn't just one hissing sound that they had heard. They could hear it from their right then to their left until it surrounded them.

Zandar swung his torch around to see the creatures around them. What they saw had confirmed what they were fearing the most. It was a whole nest of snakes. Hundreds of them were slithering towards them. Hildegard looked at them with disgust and fear. She clung tightly to Zandar's arm. The princess was truly frightened, her mind was full of thoughts and were so loud she couldn't her herself reasoning her to stay calm until she heard the soothing voice of the prince beside her.

"Hildegard… listen to me. I will distract the snakes. As soon as I do, I need you to run as fast as you can away from them, okay?"

"B-but what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up with you."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Ready?" Hildegard gave him a short nod. "1…2…" Zandar carefully observed the snakes around them. Any sudden movement and they could attack at any time. Once Zandar saw an opening, he shouted, "Go!" which made Hildegard run as Zandar pointed the fire at the snakes to clear a path. He immediately took out his sword with his other hand and started to fight the snakes.

Hildegard ran as fast as her legs could go. She turned to Zandar who was struggling to keep the snakes away from him. She one of the snakes approach him from the walls of the cave but Zandar didn't seem to notice.

"Zandar!" Hildegard tried to warn him but it was too late. The snake opened its wide mouth and bit straight into Zandar's arm. Zandar grunted in pain and collapsed to the ground as the torch rolled towards Hildegard. Before Zandar could pass out, he gripped the snake's body and threw it on the other side along with the other snakes. Hildegard immediately acted and tore a part of her pants and set it on fire before throwing it, as well as the torch, to block the snakes' path. She immediately rushed beside Zandar. She could see blood coming out of his arm.

"Zandar, Zandar! Wake up… please." Hildegard tried to stay calm and think of a way to save Zandar. She remembered reading about a way to cure snake poison when they were searching the library for Sofia's curse. It only required a few herbs so Hildegard had to act fast. She placed Zandar's uninjured arm around her neck to move him to a safer place. She a light coming from the end of the tunnel. When she reached it, she came to face with a beautiful underground lake. She quickly settled Zandar down and began to treat his wound. She found a few herbs that could help treat the wound faster.

Once Hildegard was done, she looked at the prince's sleeping face. He looked really peaceful. His chest was slowly rising up and down in rhythm. He looked so innocent like a little boy, but Hildegard knew that was no longer that small boy. He was taller and became more mature. He definitely has grown a lot but his heart was still the same. He was still the same boy who goofs around and tries to impress Hildegard in any way he can, but most of all he was a friend who's always there to be counted on, loyal to his friends, and always there by her side. That's what made her love him so much, even though he was completely oblivious to her feelings. Hildegard watched him a little while longer until she realized how tired she was and had fallen asleep beside her prince.

When Zandar woke up the first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain all over his body. Then he remembered what happened. The snakes. He was bitten and he collapsed. _"Hildegard!"_. He was about to get up to look for the princess when he realized someone was sleeping beside him. He sighed in relief when he realized it was Hildegard. He looked at his arm and noticed that it was wrapped in a cloth.

"No wonder she's tired." After running with a huge weight on her back and having to treat Zandar's wound must've really drained her energy. Zandar gazed once more at the beautiful princess beside him. Her clothes were torn, and she was practically covered in dirt yet she was still beautiful for Zandar. He couldn't help but gently caress the princess' sleeping face.

Through the years of trying to impress her, he never really made a move or asked her out. Honestly, he was scared. He seemed like the type to be open and confident. He was except when it comes to Hildegard. He was scared of getting rejected. He was scared of not being good enough for her. There were a lot of princes who wanted to court her. He felt relieved whenever she turned them down, but what if she also rejected him. He wouldn't know what to do so he decided not to do anything but after what they've been through in this journey, he realized that he couldn't lose her. He had to be the one for her. His thoughts were cut when he noticed that Hildegard was waking up.

Hildegard groaned as she sat up. She looked around and noticed that she was still in the cave.

"Morning princess."

She turned beside her and noticed the wounded prince had already woken up, "Huh? Zandar! You're awake."

"Y-yeah."

"Thank goodness." Hildegard hugged Zandar, "I was so worried."

"Sorry, I— ow!" Zandar winced in pain as his injured arm was crushed in the embrace.

"Oh I-I am so sorry. I didn't realize—"

"No no, it's fine. I'm okay… thank you by the way." Zandar smiled sweetly at his princess and stared into her bright hazel eyes.

"You're welcome." Hildegard blushed when she noticed that Zandar was staring at her. She was used to being stared and admired by people but it was different when it was Zandar because his was different. It was in his eyes. The emotion. His feelings for her. It was there and she knew it.

They've been silent for a while until Hildegard spoke. "Are you feeling better now? Does it still hurt? Your arm?"

"Y-yeah… I can barely feel the pain anymore. You know I'm not weak and besides, I had a great nurse." The prince grinned playfully.

"Oh…well then… YOU IDIOT!" Hildegard screamed and hit him on the chest, making sure not to hit his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You could've gotten yourself killed. That was so reckless of you jumping then suddenly like that!"

"I- I'm so-"

"I was so worried about you Zandar. You're not allowed to leave me like that again." Hildegard sobbed as she clenched tightly on Zandar's shirt.

"Princess…" Zandar gently cupped Hildegard's face and looked into her tear stained eyes. He slowly wiped her tears with his thumb as he began to speak in a soft voice, "I won't. I'm sorry for worrying you. You won't be able to get rid of me that easily. I promised to stay with you always after all."

"Zandar…"

Zandar stared at the princess as she stared back with glimmering eyes. He slowly began to lean in until he realized what he was about to do. He immediately pulled away and tried to organize his thoughts. "W-we should get going."

"Oh… yeah, you're right. The sooner we move, the sooner we can get out of this place and return home." Hildegard said with a bit of disappointment but Zandar didn't notice. She stood up and quickly packed their things. Zandar tried to stand up but ended up staggering a bit. He was still a bit weak but he managed to maintain his balance. He saw that Hildegard had already stared to walk.

"_You just had to ruin the mood, didn't you?" _a voice in Zandar's mind said. _"Come on Zandar. This is your chance. Tell her already!."_

"Uh… umm… Hildegard!" he called.

Hildegard turned and immediately ran towards Zandar worried that something was wrong. "What is it Zandar? Are you alright? Is your arm hurting?"

"N-no… I'm fine… I…"

"Hmm?"

"_Tell her!"_

"I…"

"_Do it now!" _

"Willyougooutwithme!"

"Huh?"

"W-will y-y-you go o-on a d-date with me?"

"Zandar…"

"Not now, I-I mean…maybe when we finally get back home, we can maybe go out to dinner, and take a stroll around the beach or maybe even fly around the magic carpet sometime."

Zandar slapped himself in his mind, _"Wait… Did I just ask her out NOW?! Seriously we're in a dangerous adventure and you're asking her out now?! Without even creating a mood first. Great now she'll think you're a bigger idiot. Take. It. Back. She'll never agree to—"_

"I'd like that." Hildegard smiled.

"Just kid— Really?"

"_Wait, am I dreaming?"_

Hildegard wrapped her arms on Zandar's uninjured one, "Yeah… but we seriously need to work on your timing." She smiled happily.

* * *

**A/N**

**Well guys that's it. I'm not really used to writing fluffy romantic scenes. I did the best I could do. I'm still learning as I go.**

**Hopefully I'll be able to post the next chapter next week. Keep your fingers crossed XD.**

**Next is Amber and Hugo's turn.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N**

**Here is chapter 14 as promised. It is Amber and Hugo's part so I hope you'll like it.**

**But before that, I read a very interesting question. It's from ANONYMOUSPERSON 28, asking why Sofia hasn't used her powers in the story, like her shrinking ability and such. Now I just to say that I honestly haven't watched the entire series. I only finished until the end of season 2 but after that I was not able to continue. I started this story when the show was still in season 2 so I have no idea of the other powers the Amulet of Avalor has given her. I'm sorry if I wasn't able to show much of the amulet's power BUT I can tell you that the amulet is definitely connected to the curse. I wasn't supposed to tell any spoilers but as a treat since I haven't been active lately, I will tell you a bit. The amulet is connected to the curse and it will help Sofia along the way especially at the end. I can't place the powers she was given in the show since it might mess up the whole story. Lord of the Rink has already ruined my perspective I don't want anymore to add to it. I just want to focus on the idea I have right now because even the littlest things can influence my ideals.**

**So that's all I'm gonna say so on to the story.**

* * *

Chapter 14 – Amber and Hugo

"Where are we?" Amber asked.

"Don't know but from the looks of it we're pretty much far away from the others." Hugo said as he looked behind them and saw nothing but pitch black. They couldn't even see the entrance anymore.

"Do you think we'll ever find the book?"

"Of course we will, Amber. You don't believe we can save your sister?"

"What? Of course, I believe… I still hope that we're going to. It's just that… we've been travelling for so long and every time we reach one point it would end up with us going to another. It's like we're in this maze that keeps us running in circles. I feel like it's never gonna end. I try to be strong all the time for Sofia but…" Amber's voice broke into sobs.

"Hey." Hugo grabbed both of Amber's shoulders and looked straight into her eyes wiping her tears away, "We will find that book. We will save Sofia. We will return to Enchancia safe and sound. And you are going to plan the most amazing party in honor of our return." Hugo chuckled at the last part but earned him a smile from Amber.

"Thanks."

Hugo and Amber began walking down the tunnel again. They walked for so long that Amber felt like they were walking in circles but Hugo assured her they weren't. They kept walking until Amber had stumbled on a rock.

"Ow!" Amber screamed as she fell on the ground.

"Are you okay?!" Hugo asked as he bent down to aid her and checked her foot if it was sprained. When he didn't get an answer, he raised his head to look at Amber. She was staring with fear at something behind him. He turned his head slowly to look at what's behind him. He saw Amber open her mouth to scream and tried to stop but failed. Amber's loud scream woke the bats up. They all went flying around the tunnel. Hugo pushed him and Amber to the ground and waited for all the bats to leave. When the bats were finally gone, Hugo got up and offered his hand to Amber to help her stand up.

"You know, James would've had a blast if he saw those bats. He was screaming for joy when he first saw them." Hugo said to Amber who was dusting her clothes.

"I'm not surprised. Although, I was surprised you two didn't bite each other's heads off when you first went in this cave."

"I almost did."

Amber giggled, "What did he do to annoy you this time?"

"What he's been doing for ten years… being a coward." Hugo groaned in annoyance, remembering his and James's conversation.

Amber's expression changed into a confused one, "What do you—"

"I know about it Amber. I've known that James has been in love with Sofia all this time. I've known about it for years. Why do you think James and I fight so much? Even though none of us told about our feelings for Sofia. We still knew that the other had the same feelings."

"So this wasn't just a school rivalry…" the princess stated more than asked.

"Yeah."

"But why would you be mad that James wouldn't admit his feelings to Sofia? Shouldn't you be glad instead?" It hurt for her to say that but she couldn't deny that the man she loves was in love with another.

"It annoys me to see him like that. He isn't James. And besides things are different now."

The last statement confused Amber, "What do you mean by that?"

"He isn't James, Amber. The James we all know is one of the bravest princes there is. He never backed down on any challenge back at the academy. Yet now…"

Amber then realized what Hugo meant. She'd been having the same problem with James. "I know what you mean… it's not the same when he isn't the James we know. He's been really stubborn when it comes to this topic. I understand what James feels, he's afraid. Anyone can be afraid. It doesn't exclude him."

"I was afraid too, you know. I was terrified when I confessed to her. I won't lie to you, it did hurt a lot… but now I just feel relieved like a weight was finally lifted from my chest. I know that I don't have a chance to be with her anymore but… it doesn't mean that I'm not going to care for her as friend. I want her to be happy with the one she loves even though she hasn't realized it herself. James needs to take a leap before it's too late. I know that he's afraid of getting rejected. He's afraid that everything will change between them… but I was willing to take the risk and after being rejected, I was finally able to move on, start from the beginning, and maybe someday, I'll find somebody who loves me back." Hugo warmly smiled at Amber and gently squeezed her hand he's been holding the entire time.

She couldn't help but hope at his words. Could there still be a chance for her? Even though she had been hurt so many times, she still hoped that there was a possibility for her dream to come true. "Hugo—"

All of the sudden the ground began to shake. Small rocks and dust were falling from the cave. Behind Hugo and Amber was the soft roaring sound that became louder and louder with every second. It only until it was so close that they realized it was the massive flood rapidly flowing towards them.

"RUN!"

Amber and Hugo ran as fast as their feet could take them. The vibrations in the ground became stronger until a hole was drilled in the ceiling and water burst out like geysers. Amber and Hugo managed to avoid it but more appeared. Each one they tried to dodge without losing their speed. They ran and ran that seemed like forever without a way out until they saw a bright light ahead. Amber was slowly feeling tired. She couldn't feel her legs. Not noticing the rock on the floor, she tripped.

"Hugo!" with her bit of strength, she managed to cry out.

Hugo heard her call and turned to see Amber lying on the ground. "Amber!", He quickly ran back to her. He bent down and placed her arm around his shoulder as he wrapped his other arm around her waist. He stood up, taking Amber with him as he began to walk towards the exit. "Come on Amber. We're almost there."

He didn't get a response. Amber was barely conscious. The flood was getting near them. Hugo went on, trying his best to support Amber, with a determined look.

"Go…" he heard a whisper and realized it was Amber.

"A-Amber… hey, it's okay. I'm right here. Just hold on."

"G-go…"

Hugo realized Amber must trying to say his name but was too tired, "I'm here. Don't worry."

"Y-you… must… g-go…" she managed to breath out.

The prince tensed at her words. How could she say that to him? He couldn't. He would not leave her. Never. "What? D-don't be silly Amber. You expect me to just l-leave you here?"

She gave a soft nod.

"No. We're getting out of this cave together. I'm not leaving you. I won't." He saw that Amber was not conscious anymore. He saw the rapids running towards them. Hugo immediately wrapped his arms tightly around Amber as the water finally reached them. He felt the strong force of water drag him. The pressure was strong but he held on to his breath and Amber. Then he felt a sharp pain as he hit his head on the wall, his grip on Amber had loosen and the rapid flow of water separated them. A bright light shone on his eyes. They were out of the tunnel. Hugo felt his body lighten. He was falling. Another sharp pain he felt as his body smashed into a lake.

Hugo swam up and took a deep breath as he felt the cold air through his skin. He was alive. But he realized that he was alone. _Amber. _Amber was nowhere to be found.

"Amber!" he yelled but no response came.

Then he saw a golden figure underwater.

"Amber!" He took a deep breath and swam below. He saw Amber's unconscious body. He swam as fast as he could and reached for Amber. He grabbed hold of her wrist and took them both to the shore.

"Wake up. Amber please wake up." When Amber was still unresponsive, he carefully lifted her head, pinched her nose, and breathed into her mouth. _"Please wake up Amber. I can't lose you." _He placed his hands over Amber's chest to pump the water out of her lungs. It was then that Amber coughed the water out. Hugo used his arm to support Amber as she sat up.

"Thank goodness…" Hugo sighed in relief. He felt like his heart just began to beat again. He had never been more afraid in his life but hearing her heart beat with his, all his fears were gone. Why? He wondered why he was so worried about her. She was his friend, but there was something more he couldn't explain yet it was somehow familiar. He shook his thoughts away and focused on the princess in his arms.

"H-Hugo…"

"Shh… it's okay. You're okay." He pulled Amber into a tight embrace, wrapping his arms protectively around her body. As he watched her fall asleep and her chest rising up and down.

* * *

Amber woke up with a slight headache. Her mind was still a bit of a mess. She looked at the surroundings. She was still in the cave but she wasn't supposed to be alone. "Urgh… Hugo?" she called for the prince.

"Morning sleepyhead." A voice greeted behind her. She turned around and saw that it was Hugo

"Hugo! W-what—?" She tried to stand put but suddenly she felt dizzy.

Hugo immediately sat beside her, "Hey take it easy. Do you remember what happened?"

Amber tried to remember as much as she could, "T-there was a flood. We were running. I just became tired. I… I don't remember much… I drank some of the water then… I-I could barely stay awake."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. You were too weak to run so I carried you."

"Wait, I remember telling you to leave—"

"There was no way I was going to leave you there Amber. I can't even believe you think I would do that to you." She felt the anger on Hugo's voice.

"But you could've d—"

"And what about you?! You never even thought of that?! You've been taking care of others so much that you've forgotten to take care of yourself." She realized that he was worried about her.

"I do not." Amber denied it.

"Really? Sofia? James? Me? Do I need to explain more?" Amber's eyes widened with realization as to what Hugo was referring to which Hugo noticed. "Thought so. Now just get some rest, I know you're still tired."

"I can take care of myself you know." The golden haired princess stubbornly said.

"No, you can't. Amber, can you just let me take care of you? I know you're a tough girl, but… I just don't want you to push yourself too hard. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Okay…" Amber felt how worried Hugo was about her. She saw it reflected in his eyes and decided to let the conversation slide. "So what happened? How did we survive?"

"When you were unconscious, I tried to take us to the end of the tunnel but the flood caught up to us so I grabbed onto you, hoping that we'd get out safely. We ended up falling in the lake. I lost my grip to you. I thought you were gone… then I saw underwater so I swam to you and took us both here. Then you had too much water in you so— you just coughed it all out and ended up sleeping again and here we are now." Hugo left out the part when he kissed her. Wait. No. That wasn't a kiss. It was to help her breath because her lungs were filled with water. He just helped her, that's all. Like how a prince should rescue a princess... _his _princess. He shook those weird thoughts away. Hugo blushed at the memory while trying to deny it in his mind.

"Are you alright?" Amber asked.

"Of course I am." he replied.

"Really? You look a bit… red… Are you sure you're not sick?" Amber reached out to place her hand on Hugo's forehead making Hugo step back a bit.

"I-I-I'm fine." Amber still looked unconvinced. "Really, I'm fine. Just a bit tired, I guess."

Amber felt like Hugo was hiding something but just decided to let it be for now. "If you say so." They sat for moment in silence until Amber spoke, "I'm cold."

"Okay…" Hugo sat down behind her and wrapped his arms around her body.

"What are you doing?"

"There's no wood here. I can't light a fire so you'll just have to bear with this." He whispered in her ear. Amber could feel his breath in her ear preventing her from saying anything. Hugo didn't hear an answer, instead he felt Amber nod. They lied themselves on the floor. He smiled as he softly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

Amber turned around to face Hugo. She pressed herself closer to him. "Warm." She stared at him. He was really kind. Thinking about what happened earlier, it was almost like everything she had dreamed of. A handsome prince had saved her and swept her off her feet as he carried her to safety and would finally share true love's kiss. It would have been a dream come true if they did kiss and if the prince wasn't in love with her sister. Life was unfair. It hurt but she never stopped loving her prince hoping someday to be loved back. She could never give up. She gazed upon his sleeping face once more before falling asleep as well. "I love you, Hugo…"

* * *

"Amber... Amber! Wake up!" Hugo shook Amber gently to wake her up.

"Uhh… what?" she answered but was still half-asleep.

Hugo chuckled at the adorable sight, "Hey, sorry to cut your beauty sleep but we need to get moving."

"Okay." Amber stood up and began to pack her things.

They were packed and ready to go when they saw a figure coming towards them.

"What's that?!" Amber questioned as her body trembled in fear.

"Get behind me." Hugo said and Amber followed him and stood behind him. Hugo draw out his sword ready to attack, "Alright! Who are you?!" The figure was coming closer and closer. It was about to attack them. Hugo clenched tightly at his sword and charged towards the enemy.

"Hugo!"

* * *

**A/N**

**Yeah sorry for the cliffy. Hope you liked the progress between Amber and Hugo. I can't make them become a couple because Hugo is still in the process of moving on and realizing his feelings for Amber and unlike in Zandar and Hildegard's case in which the two already knew they liked each other, Amber and Hugo still don't yet.**

**Now for the next chapter will be Princess Cynthia, Clio, and Vivian's turn. I know you expected Sofia and James but I'm the type who saves the best for last. And after Sofia and James's chapter will be the battle with Princess Ivy. I hope I can write a good battle scene. Yes the story has been progressing quite fast. Which reminds me that we should have a countdown since the story only has a few more chapters left before it's time to write The End. I get teary eyed just by thinking about it. This story had just reached so far and so many things have happened and so much more will soon happen. I hope you guys will still stick around till the end.**


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